


Save Mary's Diner

by dontcryMasha



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe, Bottom Castiel, Bottom Gabriel, Cas in Lingerie, Family Drama, Fluff, Food Kink, Lingerie, M/M, Married Couple, Married Destiel, Pie, Rimming, Smut, Top Dean, Top Sam
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-12
Updated: 2014-07-24
Packaged: 2018-02-08 13:39:09
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 20
Words: 38,906
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1943226
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dontcryMasha/pseuds/dontcryMasha
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AU. Sam and Dean open a diner in honor of their late mother, but when big business tries to intervene, will they be able to put their sibling quarrels aside?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. There's a lot to be done

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is really just setting up the background. It's a little boring, I admit, but necessarily and full of details that will matter. We learn all the whys and whats about the diner.

 

_illustration by[linneart](http://linneart.tumblr.com)_

There is a sign posted on the front door of a small diner in a place called Lawrence. Originally called Old Roy’s, it went out of business in the late 90s and sat there until the second owners rolled in. The first year was rough, but just three months after its opening, a food critic wrote up that sign and taped it to the window.

**Best Pie in Kansas!**

Now, the owners were by no means arrogant about it, but that extra boost of confidence from the sign was what they needed to kick off their business. See, the Winchester brothers had such little experience in restaurant management and business in general that it was really quite the puzzle to pull the diner off well, but that didn’t stop them. It was no small or strange thing that they pursued that career, not at all; in fact it was the driving force in their lives to make it work. Time for a little history lesson.

The boys had been raised by their mother, Mary. Their father had vanished when the youngest of them, Sam, wasn’t old enough to remember him at all and Dean, evidently the eldest, only had a vague impression (that one cruddy photo album is practically the only thing they know of him). Mary never explained where or why left, leaving the boys nothing but a “He just isn’t coming back” to ponder.

The decades that followed were filled with a brilliant mother’s love. Sam and Dean were happy kids that couldn’t have asked for more, despite having a non-existent father. As they grew up, Sam took a keen interest in academics while Dean fell behind. He managed to pick odd jobs here and there, construction and whatnot, but it was hard for the older boy to hold anything down.

So Sam went to college and Dean stayed at home, helping out his mother and doing what he could to bring in money. In the summer of his 24th year, Dean met Cas. Things changed dramatically for him, then; they fell in love and he yearned to move out. But something was holding him back.

Little did Dean know but Mary had been harboring a very serious cancer. Her inability to function on her own was gradual, and at first Dean assumed it was her getting older or perhaps Sam’s leaving, but once she got the diagnosis, he was devastated. They were all devastated.

It would be cruel to continue on with these minor details, since most people know how it feels to watch a loved one decline. The important take away in this history lesson is that Mary had, the whole time she raised her boys, talked about something; she always wanted to run a diner. She had worked in plenty, sure, since as a single mother she took every job she could, often leaving Dean in charge to watch his baby brother late into the night. It was painful and she dread it, but she did what she had to do, and self-sacrifice was what she was best at.

Watching his mother die, happy that her kids were content with what she had done but still clinging to that wish of being a restaurant owner, really warped Dean. For days after Mary passed, he would pace up and down the street, cursing to himself and screaming at the heavens for a way to make it up to his mother. In the midst of chaos, Sam had taken a break from school and come back home to stay with Dean. Well, Dean and Cas. Before Mary got terribly sick, the two had married and they were living in the old house together.

So once again, the Winchester brothers were together but now Dean had a husband. Cas had finished culinary school and was looking for work in that realm. As they wandered about town one day, Dean noticed the Old Roy’s diner, abandoned for so long, FOR SALE sign fading in the window. And that’s when he had the crazy idea. Sam stayed home much longer than he expected, and by the time that Dean was 27, the diner was up and running under its new name; Mary’s.

“All I’m sayin’ is if you were ta put a stand outside the emish’ns testin’ facility, sellin’ new gas caps, ya’d make a killin’. You git that, boy?”

“Um…sure, Bobby. Whatever you say.”

Sam was the only waiter at Mary’s Diner and often subject to the useless banter of their customers. He couldn’t possibly talk trash about Bobby, their first and best regular, but when he got into the “car stuff” it was really hard for Sam to follow. Dean dug that type of talking better, but he usually slipped away from the register and popped his head back into the kitchen to watch his husband fill the orders.

“They always fail,” Bobby continued as Sam refilled his coffee. “So why not make a li’l profit off that? Saves ev’ryone time and ya make some money.”

“I don’t know if it’s legal to sell anything on the emissions testing facility,” said Sam.

Bobby just rolled his eyes and muttered, “Law school types” behind his beard. It couldn’t be helped. Sam shrugged it off and went to check on the only other customer in the diner. It was just a little before the lunch rush would come in so they still had time to relax.

Once Bobby had run out of gas cap chat to bitch about, Dean conveniently reappeared from the kitchen with a smile on his face. “Hey Bobby,” he said. “My brother treating you alright?”

“Yeah I _guess_ ,” Bobby groaned. “He just don’t git it like we do.”

“Mmhm, right. Hey you want your check now?”

Bobby grumped. “Dang it, Dean. What’d I tell ya ‘bout askin’ people fer their checks too soon?”

“Not to?” Dean asked, frowning.

“Yer a nice kid but I ain’t too sure about ya runnin’ a restaurant.”

“Woah, hold on a second,” Dean said, folding his arms and coming as close to Bobby as he could with the countertop between them. “I’ve done great for a year.”

“Yeah an’ I’m proud of that.”

“Well thanks, Bobby.”

The older man took a sip of his coffee and set it down, smacking his lips. “Surprised, though.”

“Oh, _thanks_ ,” Dean added. Before anymore could be said, the little bell tied to the front door chattered as a new patron stepped inside. Sam immediately jumped up from the table he had commandeered and greeted them. Not long after they had a seat, two more people came through. Sam took down all their orders and handed them off to Cas, just before grabbing water for them. Dean propped his chin up on the ledge and watched Cas as he poured frozen French fries into the deep fryer. “I tell you how sexy you look when you’re back there?” Dean asked, smirking.

“Yes,” Cas answered shortly, looking back at Dean real quick. “Every day, I think.”

“Heheh, alright, well, you look sexy when you’re back there.”

“Thank you, Dean. Here, the starter salads for table 3.”

“Right, right,” Dean yawned. He took the plates and turned around, yelling “Hey Samm-yyy!”

“I’m right here, Dean! You don’t have to yell.”

“But I like to.”

“Yeah I know you do.” Sam shook a wisp of hair out of his face as he was handed the salads, not before giving his brother the check from the earlier guest. “Thanks,” he said quietly.

“Good job, Sammy,” Dean grinned, patting his brother on the shoulder. He took the money and rang it up into the register. The bell chimed again, this time bringing a group of four into the diner. They looked around with pleasantly surprised faces. Sure, from the outside, Mary’s Diner looked like a dump. The lines in the parking lot needed to be repaved and it wouldn’t hurt to have a power washer knock some of the dirt off her outside walls, but within the building was a quaint little slice of heaven.

“Hey uh, Sam will seat you,” Dean said quietly to the people who just walked in. One snorted to another, standing there awkwardly. “Hey Samm-YYYYYYYY!” Dean called out.

“Hold on, hold on!” Sam whined. He was in the middle of jotting down another order.

Bobby, still at the counter, drummed his fingers on the handle of his coffee cup and looked at Dean with a smirk. “I think y’all should consider hirin’ another waiter.”

“Yeah, you think?” Dean groaned. Bobby put a five down on the counter and slid out of the chair, tipping his baseball cap to the not-so-efficient owner.

Finally Sam gave the orders over to Cas, then seated the four people at a booth in the back. He grabbed yet another finished order from the kitchen and gave it to another table. All the while Dean just stood behind the counter, watching his husband rush about in the kitchen.

“Dean, come on,” Sam said, coming up to the counter.

“What do you mean come on? You come on. Those people were waiting for like two minutes while you took that other order.”

“No I mean come on, hire another waiter.”

Dean raised his eyebrows. “You uh, you heard Bobby?”

Sam shook his head. “No. What?”

“Nevermind. But I mean yeah, yeah I think we should start looking.”


	2. Expanding the crew

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's undeniable; the Winchesters need to hire another waiter. But Sam has been working at the diner too long and it's starting to wear thin, causing tension between the brothers.

 

**Now Hiring**

_Inquire Within_

Dean sat at one of the diner’s booths, clipboard in hand, jotting down small notes on each waiter applicant. One by one they came through, answering his questions as best as they could.

“So uh, you ever worked as a waiter before?” Dean asked all of them.

“Yeah. Well, kinda. No, not really.”

“Been unemployed my whole life.”

“I danced on tables. Does that count?”

Shaking his head at most of the answers, Dean followed up with "can you work the dinner shift most nights?"

"Oh, I can only do mornings."

"Uhh...three nights a week. Maybe."

"I'm not sure, I'd have to ask my probation officer."

Disgruntled and tired, Dean turned the last applicant away with a sigh. Just then did Sam come from the kitchen with a plate of sandwiches for a couple in the back. Once he dropped them off he swung by Dean’s booth and clicked his tongue. “What’s wrong?”

“Twelve people up for the job but none of ‘em were qualified enough,” Dean sighed.

“What’s your definition of ‘qualified’?”

“Anykind of table waiting experience. I mean _any_.”

Sam put a hand on his hip, sucking his teeth. “Maybe you’re being too picky?”

“This is someone who’s gonna be working for me, Sammy! I have to be picky!”

“Mmm, for us, you mean.”

“Right, right,” Dean said, rolling his eyes. “Working for us. Working with you. I can’t hire just any idiot.”

“Well you have to find someone. I mean, you need to find two people soon.”

Dean raised his eyebrows, taking his eyes off of the notepad and up to his brother. “Two?”

“Dean, you said I’d only have to take a semester off. It’s been a year now. I need to get back to school!” Sam furrowed his brow .

“C’mon, Sammy,” Dean coaxed. He got up from the booth. “You gotta stick around a little longer. Aren’t you happy doing this?”

“Not really,” said Sam.

“Sam!” Dean hissed. “You know I can’t run this diner without you, and I can’t run the diner, then my promise to mom is gone!”

The people in the back looked up from their sandwiches and watched the bickering brothers curiously. A guy at the counter looked, too.

“Dean, calm down. And you never promised mom anything.”

Eyes heated, Dean pushed by his brother and steamed off towards the kitchen. He slipped through the swing doors loud enough for Cas, standing at the grill, to detect a sibling quarrel.

“What’s the issue now, Dean?”

Dean sulked up behind Cas and started to rub his shoulders. “Everything,” he grunted.

“Hmm? Now you know that’s not true.”

“I know, I know,” Dean sighed. He pressed his forehead between Cas’ shoulder blades and exhaled deeply, over and over. Cas turned a burger.

“So? What’s happening with Sam?”

“Ugh. He thinks I’m being too picky with the waiter applicants.”

“Are you?”

“No! I mean I don’t think so. I can’t hire someone without experience…but it’s not just that. Now he says he wants to go back to school.”

Cas had to lightly slip away from Dean’s touch so that he could finish off the burger. He plated it and then called out for Sam to pick it up. As the younger Winchester swooped by the window to grab it, Dean forcibly looked away. “He _knows_ I can’t run the diner without him.”

Nobody else came looking for a job as the dinner rush came in. It was crazy again, and Sam could barely manage. The necessity for more help was overwhelming. The boys had to make at least some peace between each other, but as they handed off tabs and kept the kitchen rolling, they couldn’t stop glaring back and forth.

The evening wrapped up just the same, and Sam went home early. Dean stayed around as he watched Cas clean up the kitchen, offering a hand off and on.

“There will be more applicants tomorrow,” said Cas, watching his hands run a sponge over one of their stainless steel countertops. Dead leaned against the over, arms folded. “You will find someone.”

“Yeah I know I will. Eventually. But what about Sam?”

“What about him?”

“He’s being a dick.”

Cas stopped scrubbing. He peered over his shoulder and made wide, puppy dog eyes at his husband. “Perhaps you’re also being a dick, Dean.”

“Nope. That’s just ‘cause it’s so big you can’t stop thinking about it.”

“What?”

“My dick.”

Cas rolled his eyes. He wrung the sponge out in the sink and propped it up on the side. “Dean?”

“What…”

“Are you horny?”

“No. Why?”

A smirk went across Cas’ face as he turned around and walked up to Dean. His hands lightly went on Dean’s arms and squeezed. “Kitchen’s clean.”

“Yeah, I noticed,” Dean grumped. He pouted and looked away from Cas.

“Deee-an,” Cas sang, leaning closer. “I know how much you love kitchen sex.”

“Not tonight.”

“But…”

“I’m sorry, baby.” Dean kissed his lightly on the lips. “I’m just frustrated. Maybe tomorrow. Okay?”

“Very well,” Cas said with a nod. He returned the kiss, blushing lightly. “Then let’s make an early night.”

* * *

Breakfast came and went the next day but no further applicants stopped by. Dean was really unhappy and distressed by it, maybe foolishly so, but Sam’s attitude wasn’t much helping. They didn’t talk to each other aside from orders being called out. If it wasn’t work related, they didn’t speak. It was terribly juvenile and Cas was certainly not a fan.

“You’re going to hold this against him?” He asked.

“Yeah, of course. He can’t just bail on us, that’s fucking rude.”

“Mmm,” Cas hummed. He took a scoop of coleslaw and bunged it into a cup on a plate. Dean watched idly. “Yes?”

“Just Sam, that’s all.”

Cas walked by Dean with the plate and slid it onto the counter, then Sam swooped by real quick on the other side and snatched it. Dean frowned.

“He’s a dick.”

“We’ve been through this,” said Cas. After wiping off his hands, he walked up to Dean and lightly touched his arm. “And you know what they say; arguments end but family is forever.”

“Right, right,” Dean said, just rolling his eyes and nodding as if he cared. To be honest, it felt like Sam was betraying him. After all the time, money and effort they put into the diner; all the hard work and sacrifices made, he would just turn his back on it and let Dean handle it himself?

“Hey, Dean?” Sam’s voice. Dean sneered at his brother, but Sam replied with a shaking of his head. “Another applicant.”

“Oh. Okay.”

The older guy perked up just slightly at the news, grabbing his clipboard first, then came around out of the kitchen and was flagged down by Sam. “Him, over there,” he said. Dean nodded and carried on into the direction that Sam pointed.

Along the wall lined with photographs stood a young guy in a rugged green jacket. He had his hands shoved into his pockets as he gazed at the frames. It was mostly a family album on the wall; starting with Mary and the babies, going all the way to Dean and Cas’ wedding day.

“Hey,” Dean said as he approached the guy. “You here for the job?”

“Yeah,” the guy answered. He didn’t turn around. “Cute pics.”

“Pics? Sure. Thanks. You wanna come over here so we can talk?”

“Alright, cool.” Now he turned around and looked right up at Dean. He was considerably shorter, with messy brown hair and large sideburns.

“How old are you?”

“21.”

“You work at a restaurant before?”

“Yeah, actually. Couple places back home. See I’m here just for school.”

“Oh. How long are you gonna work?” Dean asked, gesturing for him to follow him to a booth. He followed, glancing around the place.

“Long as I can I guess,” the applicant said with a shrug. “I gotta pay my student loans, and food, and…” As they sat down in the back, the guy’s eyesight fell on Sam, serving drinks to a couple people at the counter. “…and anything else that I need.”

“Okay,” said Dean. He drummed a pen on his clipboard, staring at previous notes and not at all noticing the guy checking out his brother. “What’s your name?”

“Gabriel.”

“Uh, alright. So what kinda hours can you work?”

Gabriel leaned back in the booth, putting one arm up on the back in a dangerously casual manner. He kept watching Sam as he went back and forth from the kitchen window to the different customers. “I got class on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. But I’m done by 2. So those days after 2 but the other ones I’m good all day.”

“Okay, good. So you could do dinner almost every week?”

“Sure.”

“Mm. That’s good. You be alright with Sam training you?”

“Sam?” Gabriel asked, eyebrows raising high on his forehead.

“Yeah, Sam. He’s our waiter, my brother. The tall guy walking around back there.”

“Yeah. Yeah, he can train me.”

“Alright, well,” Dean said, clearing his throat. He forced a smile. “Honestly I dunno why I wouldn’t hire you. So, I’d say you’re hired.”

 


	3. An angst potpourri

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dean and Cas enjoy some intimate time together while Sam is forced to hear them. It's still tense between them, but Sam gets distracted by training the sassy new waiter.

 

Over the blaring TV, Dean stretched out on his bed and called out to Cas, who was getting ready for bed in the attached bathroom. “You saw him?”

“Who?” Cas asked. The faucet ran.

“Gabriel. The new waiter.”

“No, not exactly. Why?”

“If he works out, he’ll be the first support to our team that isn’t family.”

“Is that good?”

“I dunno. I guess I’m a little nervous. But he seems like a cool guy. Just hope he comes on time tomorrow.”

“Yes,” Cas muttered as he began to brush his teeth. Dean looked back to the TV and watched until his partner was done and came out of the bathroom.

“You look hot,” Dean said with a grin.

Cas blushed. “You’ve seen this one before,” he said coyly, gesturing to the blue satin nighty he was sporting so well. Dean looked at him hungrily.

“I know,” he said. “I’m just saying that it looks hot. Come here.” Dean lay back, off of the pillow and motioned for Cas to come. “Sit on my face.”

“Alright,” Cas agreed. He climbed up onto the bed, spread his legs around Dean’s face and plopped right down on his mouth, facing away. A sharp breath was sucked in at the moment Dean’s tongue pressed between his cheeks, then Cas relaxed and let out a low moan. “Someone’s feeling happier today.”

“Mmm,” Dean hummed, lapping at the tight hole. He spoke right against it. “Feels like things are working better in my favor.”

As he grabbed onto Cas’ thighs to pull him closer, smothering his face with the splendid, round ass, he licked tight, slick circles around the ring of muscle.

“Aaah!” Cas moaned, rocking his hips in time with Dean’s licking. He blushed hard, clinging to the hem of his short nighty. “Deaan!”

“Like that?” Dean asked in a whisper between tonguing. When Cas whimpered in agreement, he took that as a cue to dip inside. His tongue pressed into the pucker hole, sliding slowly and causing Cas to moan even louder. He gasped, tossing his head back and closing his eyes.

“Ohh, Dean!” he shouted. Then Dean pulled out and laid a few long, loving kisses on the hole. “Mmmhhh!” Cas whined.

“You want me to fuck you?” Dean whispered. Cas looked over his shoulder at his husband, forehead scrunched up desperately, nodding for penetration. “Okay, baby. Be good.”

Dean clapped his hands onto Cas’ cheeks and gently pushed him forward so that he slid down his body. Cas tugged off Dean’s boxer briefs during his decent, allowing his growing erection to expose itself. Then, Cas put his palms down on the mattress, right between Dean’s spread legs, and arched his back in order to line his ass up well.

“Mmm, that looks great,” Dean moaned, spreading Cas’ cheeks with his hands. His tight hole throbbed hungrily. “You want me, baby?”

“Yes,” Cas muttered. A few little moans gurgled forth from his lips, separating with his breathing. Dean smirked and lightly tugged at the soft hem of his husband’s nighty, just before letting off him and reaching for the bottle of lube they had been working on. After spreading some on his fingers, he dipped down to Cas’ hole and lightly worked it in gentle circles.

“Oh, you’re hungry, huh?” Dean asked in a throaty whisper.

“Ye-es,” was Cas’ response, little more than a gasp. He lurched forward when Dean slowly eased one finger inside. “Ahh! Dean!”

“That’s good,” Dean cooed, twisting that one finger deeper and deeper, curl delicately enough to send shivers through Cas’ nervous system. “Real good.”

“Ohhh!”

A second finger went inside, and Cas started bucking his hips back against Dean’s hand. He separated them a little to stretch the hole. Cas’ breathing grew progressively faster, hotter, heavier. His fingers gripped into the sheets between Dean’s legs.

“You want another, or are you ready for my dick?”

“Oh, just fuck me, Dean!” Cas shouted.

“Mmmhmmhmm, alrighty,” Dean said with a smirk. His fingers suddenly pulled out, making Cas gasp again, then he grabbed some more lubricant and rubbed it all over the outside of his asshole. Cas looked over his shoulder and smiled back at Dean, moaning and licking his lips.

“Fuck me,” Cas mouthed breathlessly.

“Sure, baby, sure.”

Dean snatched a last smear of lube and rubbed it around his throbbing cock, getting it nice and slick for Cas. He kept one hand on a cheek to help spread, then held the base of his dick and lead it up to the pucker hole. Cas relaxed around the head and sat down around it, very slowly, groaning. Once Dean was in enough to let go, he ran both of his hands up and down Cas’ back, feeling the firm skin as he started to rock his hips up at him. They groaned in unison, thrusting and grinding at each other with heavy breathing.

Their love making was beautiful, but one room over, Sam did not agree. Since Dean had turned the third bedroom in the rambler into their “control room” for the diner, Sam was stuck in the remaining one, which happened to be wall to wall with Dean’s (to be fair, the control room shared a common wall as well). But they were thin walls and Sam certainly didn’t appreciate that. He lay in bed with his hands clapped over his ears, trying to block out the hungry moans of his brother and his husband.

“Ohh! Dean! Aaah!”

“You feel so good, Cas! Oh my God!”

The headboard thumped and thumped with a nauseating rhythm to Sam. Unfortunately, he knew that Dean usually lasted about 9 minutes, so the pain would be over soon. And it was so, so painful. Every now and then, Sam would have enough of the noise and try yelling at them, but Dean’s retort was always something like, “It’s just love, Sammy! Go to bed!”

He stared at the clock, watching the colon flash with each impossibly long second. The thumping grew faster.

“Fuck me, Dean! Gaaah!”

“Mmmm…fuck you? Yeaaah…fuck you, Cas...ahh…”

Then all at once, Dean grabbed Cas around the waist real tight and delivered a strong, hot coup de grace inside him, filling the perfect ass with a steamy loud. They both screamed and hollered, panting, gasping, arching their sticky bodies together. As usual, Cas had rubbed himself well enough so that he climaxed at the same time.

“AAHHH!! DEAAAAAN!”

“FUCK! BABY! FUUCK! YEAAH!”

The violent smacking quickly subsided and they collapsed on the bed. Dean pulled Cas up and around, into his arms so that he could press tiny kisses on the back of his neck. “Mmmm,” he hummed, coming down from his orgasm. “Beautiful.”

On the other side of the wall, Sam was pissed but relieved. The whispers that entailed were too quiet for him to pick up, and finally he was able to sleep. He didn’t hear Dean say, “I love you so much” nor did he hear Cas respond with “I love you too, darling.” The rooms fell silent.

* * *

Sam biked to work ahead of Dean so that he didn’t have to talk to him, which was pretty stupid considering they ran the diner together. He was looking forward to the new waiter, since maybe some non-family interaction would ease the tension at work. He smiled a little bit to himself as he chained his bike up along the side, around a rusty old bike rack that really only he used. The small, rugged parking lot was still empty at 5am, waiting another hour until they opened for the morning rush. Sam went right in and began prepping the tables until Dean and Cas rolled in. Of course they were happy. Cas walked back to the kitchen after saying good morning to Sam for the second time that day, which Sam only responded with a nod, but Dean passed by silently on his way to the register.

“Make sure you get ready for the new guy today,” Dean said monotonously. Sam slowed the wiping down of a table but didn’t reply. “I told him to be here at 3, so you can show him the ropes before dinner picks up.”

Again, no response for Sam. But thankfully they were able to remain at least somewhat civil through the breakfast and lunch rush. Then finally 3 came and Gabriel was right on time.

“Okay, so Sam is going to train you and all of that,” Dean told him.

“Cool,” Gabriel replied, narrowing his eyes. Then Sam came by and took him aside. The diner was empty for now, but it certainly wouldn’t last long.

“Gabriel, right?” Sam asked.

“Yeah. Or Gabe, if that’s easier.”

“Okay, that’s fine. So you’ve worked as a waiter before, right?”

“Yeah.” Gabe’s eyes absentmindedly worked Sam over a few times, and it certainly gave him a lot to look, since Sam was about a foot taller than him.

“Good. Alright. See, we just have this ticket system,” Sam went on to explain. He showed Gabe how they write down the orders and get them back to Cas. It was easy, but how could it be anything but, considering how small the diner was? You could practically hear anybody from anywhere inside. The hominess was what brought people like Bobby coming back again and again. Sam told Gabe how important regulars were. “But I guess you won’t meet Bobby, if you don’t work mornings,” he said.

“If you _need_ me to work some mornings Iguess I _can_. Jean said he didn’t need me.”

“Dean,” Sam corrected.

“Right,” Gabe added, rolling his eyes a bit. “Dean.”

Sam’s voice suddenly shot into a sharp whisper, sternly narrowing his eyes at the new employee. “Hey, I can trash talk my brother because he’s my brother, but you can’t.”

“Oh!” Gabe gasped. “That’s funny ‘cause you struck me like a guy who doesn’t get angry.”

“I’m not angry,” Sam answered, relaxing again. He let out a small sigh, glancing over to the counter where Dean was giving googoo eyes to Cas, then slid a menu over to Gabe. “You should get familiar with everything until the next customers arrive.”

So Gabe sat there for a little while, reading the menu over and over and acting bored, though his occasional glance at Sam was quite full of interest, for almost half an hour. Then the beginnings of the dinner rush started and they went to work.

Sam was apprehensive about Gabe, since he was rather nonchalant with an already quick tongue. He was afraid that might disrupt his ability to focus well on work, but he picked up easily and did a pretty fair job, especially for his first day. The only issue was that he tended to chat with the customers too much (but in a place like that, it might not be a bad thing).

“So 6 to 10 Tuesday through Sunday works for you?” Dean asked as he clocked Gabe out.

“Yeah, that’s cool.”

“Awesome. Thanks.”

“Sure.”

The new waiter rapped his fist on the counter and said bye to Dean and Cas, then on his way out he tipped his chin right to Sam and hollered, “See ya tomorrow, big guy!”

“Big guy?” Sam said to himself as the door closed behind Gabe. He looked over to Dean, but he was preoccupied counting money, and Cas was still too far back in the kitchen to tell. A middle aged woman sitting near the door giggled behind a glass of water.


	4. Planning galore

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The brothers are still bickering, but Sam starts to enjoy Gabriel's company. They make plans.

 

Dean tried being nicer to Sam the next day. He went out of his way to chat him up, but Sam was still pretty pissed. It also didn’t help that he banged Cas raw again overnight.

“It’s inappropriate,” said Sam. He was wiping down the front counter after lunch had cleared out.

“It’s just love, Sammy.”

“You can’t be that loud when you’re living with your brother! And then you wonder why I don’t want to stay?”

Dean snorted. His fingers drummed on the countertop. “You really don’t wanna stay here?” He asked in a low, sincere voice. Sam sternly shook his head.

“No, not really. This isn’t a place for me.”

“But it’s your home,” Dean sighed. “Mom wouldn’t want you to leave.”

“Mom encouraged me to follow my dreams.”

“What about _our_ dreams?” Dean asked sadly. Sam pressed his lips together.

“’Us’ doesn’t really me you and me anymore, Dean. It’s you and Cas. I’m in the middle of Law school, I can’t put that on hold for a diner.”

Dean groaned so loud that the building almost rocked with it. There were no customers at that moment and it felt particularly empty. Through the kitchen window, Cas could be heard scraping the griddle.

“Sammyyy, come on!” Dean begged. “This is where you belong!”

“It’s where _you_ belong. I’m not going to stay unless I find a really convincing argument.”

Dean shook his head, frowning, but before he could get any words of protest out, the front door bell chimed and Gabriel walked in.

“Mornin’, boys!” he cheered, grinning ear to ear.

“Hey, it’s not morning,” said Dean. “You know what time it is?”

“Yeah of course. 6 o’clock on the nose.” Gabe sauntered up to the counter and lightly rapped his fists in front of Dean. “Now check me in, buddy.”

Dean laughed. “Whatever you say, boss.” He clicked his teeth and punched Gabe in on time. Then he rolled a couple pens over the counter towards him. “Ask Sam for your next assignment. I’m gonna go check on the slut in the kitchen.”

“Slut?” Gabe asked, raising his eyebrows.

“My husband.”

“Heck of a way to talk about him.”

“Just teasing. He knows.” Dean chuckled a bit and Gabe couldn’t help but do so as well.

“He knows you’re teasing or he knows he’s a slut?!” Gabe asked. Dean roared with laughter.

“Both!”

They had a good laugh then Dean went back there as promised. Gabe plopped down on one of the bar stools next to where Sam stood and propped his face up in his palm.

“Easily amused,” Sam remarked, lining the salt and pepper shakers between seats up just right. There were industrial sized bags of sugar and sweetener packets beside him, waiting to be used. Gabe watched him with a sassy little smirk.

“Who?”

“My brother.”

“Oh yeah? I didn’t notice,” Gabe chuckled. Sam looked over at him quickly and stuck his tongue out. “But it’s cool. I like him.”

“I admit he’s a nice guy.”

“Bother you that he’s gay?” Gabe asked real quick.

“Huh?” Sam double took what Gabe said and looked at him again. “What sorta question is that?”

“Dunno. Does it? Stuff like that can tear a family apart, and I’m sensing bad mojo between you.”

Sam had to blink and clear his thoughts in an instant. “Uhhh, no,” he muttered. After staring ahead for a few seconds, he directed his attention back to the condiments. “That has nothing to do with it. I like Cas just fine.”

“Then?”

“Older brother stuff I guess.”

Gabe nodded. “Tell me about it. I have three.”

“No kidding?” Sam asked. Then he pointed to the table setting in front of Gabe. “You’re on the clock, why don’t you do this too? We can get it done faster.”

“What is it?”

“Just make the salt on this side, the pepper here…then if the sugar packets look low, refill them.”

“’Kay. Seems easy.”

“It is, just tedious.”

Gabe turned towards the counter and started to parrot what Sam did, stealing glances every now and then. “So, _Sam_ , what’s with you and your bro?”

He had hoped that the distraction of menial tasks would have avoided the discussion, but Sam sighed stiffly and explained anyway. “So get this; Dean had the crazy idea of starting the diner because my mom always wanted one. She passed away. I told Dean I’d take time off from school to help out, but _I had to get back to school_. Now he doesn’t want me to leave and is being a jerk about it.”

“What’s wrong with working at the diner?” Gabe asked, absentminded sucking his teeth as he put a couple Sweet’n Low packets into their ceramic holder.

“It’s not for me. Wouldn’t you rather be in school?”

“I am in school, but no. This place is super cool. I’d love to work here full time.”

“ _Really?_ ”

“Why’s that so surprising?”

“It just seems so annoying. You wouldn’t wanna work for Dean all day.”

“Why not?”

Something in the kitchen shattered on the floor, followed by a loud gasp from Cas, then cooed little mutters, “You are the clumsiest baby, my clumsy, silly little baby!” Sam gestured towards the kitchen window, rolling his eyes. “That,” he said flatly.

“What’s wrong with that?”

“Dean’s _never_ been like that. He’s always been really cool and straight-forward, rugged and witty. But that stupid baby talk is really, really irritating.”

“It’s cute!” Gabe said with a grin. “Cute that a guy can get over his own image to make another happy.”

“I guess so,” Sam agreed in a small, unsure voice. He slid down to a few other stools and began tidying their areas up.

“What’re you studying in school, anyways?” Gabe asked.

“Law.”

“Ooh! That’s big.”

“Yeah, so do you see why I’d rather not be here?”

“I do, I do,” Gabe said, nodding. “But why not respect what your brother wants?”

Sam sighed again. “Because I don’t want to.”

“How do you think that makes him feel?”

“I don’t know.”

The doorbell chimed and in walked three customers. Sam quickly got up and went over to them, and on the way Gabe said “We’ll pick up later, okay?”

“There’s nothing else to say.”

“Bullshit, he’s your bro!”

Sam just shook his head and began to seat the customers. Gabe smirked. They went about their shifts pretty well, Gabe doing a good job again, until 10 o’clock rolled by and it was time for him to sign off. Dean clocked him out but he hung around still, plopped down at the counter again, next to a couple stragglers. Sam was busy clearing tables, though he couldn’t help but look over at Gabe occasionally.

“Aren’t you done?” Sam asked.

“Yeah,” Gabe told him, raising his eyebrows. “But I thought we’d keep talking.”

“About what?”

“Dean, the diner, your life. Stuff like that.”

“Like I told you earlier, there’s not a lot more to say.”

“Yeah and like _I_ told _you_ earlier, that’s bullshit.”

Sam hissed a low whisper to him. “Language around customers!”

“Sorry, sorry. But it’s true. Haven’t you considered how Dean feels about your choices?”

“Of course I have,” said Sam. After he toweled off a table he came and sat next to Gabe with a sigh. The customers beside them were having a good time reminiscing amongst each other so he figured he shouldn’t bother them. “He’s completely self-centered and doesn’t think about my needs at all, just his weird, almost sexual obsession with the diner.”

“Almost sexual?” Gabe repeated, widening his eyes with a curious smile. “What’s that all about?”

“it’s not explicitly a fetish or anything, he’s just so wrapped up in it that it’s sorta creepy.”

“How?”

“Hard to explain. But basically everything comes before the diner.”

“What about his husband?”

“His husband works here.”

“Does he want to?”

“Yes of course. Dean wouldn’t force Cas to do anything he didn’t want.”

“Ah,” Gabe said, nodding slowly to himself. “Makes ya wonder, doesn’t it?”

“I don’t catch your drift.”

“I’m building a theory.”

“On?”

“Dean and the diner.”

“So what is it?”

“I said I’m building it!”

“Okay, okay, sorry.”

“It’s cool.” Gabe bat his eyes at Sam quickly, blushing a little. “We can always talk about it later.”

“Later when?”

“I dunno. Later later. Maybe my day off? That’s Monday.”

“But I still have to work.”

“I bet if you told Dean that you needed an early night to clear your head, so that you could work harder the next day, he’d be cool.”

“What?”

Gabe chuckled. “If everything in his life revolves around the diner, then just make up an excuse that involves something positive with it.”

“So, lie?”

“Nope, that’s not lying,” Gabe shook his head and he spoke, clicking his tongue. “Just catering your reasons to his…almost sexual thing.”

“Alright, fine. We can try.”

“So then let’s do something on Monday? Monday evening? Before it’s too late.”

“Sure.”


	5. Gabe takes a nose dive

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dean and Cas discuss their future. Sam's evening with Gabe takes an unexpected turn.

 

Sam got up early to hit the gym before work. It didn’t much matter when he came into the diner, since the first hour or two was never that busy and after all, Dean _was_ capable of taking care of customers (although he’d usually make Cas do it).

After he got into his workout clothes, he came downstairs into the kitchen to find Dean and Cas, both in their bathrobes, sitting at the table. There was a plate of pie in front of them and Dean had some on a fork, which he lovingly put into Cas’ open mouth.

“Mmm, you like that, baby?” Dean purred as he pulled the fork out from between his husband’s lips. Cas closed his eyes and smiled as he chewed, humming in agreement. Dean leaned in and kissed him real gentle.

“Ugh,” grunted Sam, walking by them. He rolled his eyes.

“What?” Dean asked.

Sam went to the refrigerator and took out a bottle of water he stuck in there the night before. He put it into the gym bag slung around his shoulder. “Just…you two. Do you really have to do your foreplay down here?”

“It ain’t foreplay!” Dean barked. He gave Cas another bite of pie then wiped a few crumbs off him with his thumb. “Cas deserves to eat some of his tasty pie sometimes.”

The couple giggled at Dean’s remark but Sam just sighed. “It’s gross.”

“It’s love,” Dean rebutted. “Jesus, Sammy, when was the last time you get laid, anyway?”

“Dean!” Sam yelled, blushing hard all of the sudden. His body locked up before he could leave the kitchen.

“What? It’s an honest question.”

“To be fair,” Cas interjected humbly. “It is a slightly inappropriate thing to ask your brother.”

“Not it’s not. Look at him. Sammy, when did you last even have a girlfriend?”

Sam cleared his throat. He adjusted the bag on his shoulder and mumbled, “high school.”

“See?!” Dean exclaimed. “Half the reason you’re such a grump is ‘cause you need some tail.”

“I’ve been busy, I haven’t had time for…tail. And now I’m too busy working at your fucking diner to meet anyone!”

His embarrassment set aside, Sam’s face filled with bitterness and he was able to storm out of the house. Dean didn’t answer and just looked over at Cas sadly.

“None of that was your fault,” said Cas. He set his hand on top of Dean’s. “But perhaps you’re right about him getting laid.”

“’Course I am,” Dean muttered, frowning.

“He’s a little overwhelmed right now. Part of him wants to return to school, but I’m sure another part wants to stay. It must be difficult, but he’ll figure it out. What’s important is that he knows we still love him.”

Dean chuckled as he shook his head, looking at Cas just briefly. “Don’t go all Mama Cas on me, babe.”

“Mama Cas?”

“Yeah, you know; like we’re Sam’s parents.”

“But you would like that, wouldn’t you?”

Dean wet his lips and glanced over at the pie. He poked at it with the fork. Cas’ fingers on his opposite hands, the one sitting on his own leg, lightly tensed.

“Yeah,” Dean admitted in a small voice. “But only since you’d make a good mama.”

Cas raised his eyebrows. “Then why don’t you like me _going all Mama Cas_?”

“Guess I’m not ready.”

They fell silent. Dean pressed his lips together and exhaled slowly, while Cas watched with a sad face. Then he suddenly brightened up and announced, “ _I_ know what will make you feel less grumpy.” Then he stood up and dropped his baby blue robe to expose himself completely, just before spreading his cheeks and sitting right up onto the slice of pie. Dean’s face lit up. “Cas!” he gasped, starting to grin. Cas moaned lightly and bounced his booty around the smashed up pastry, staring at his partner. “Now you can’t eat it. That was dumb, you dummy.”

“You can still eat it,” Cas said in a whisper.

Pretending to just realize, Dean got up from his chair and put his hands on his hips, grinning. “Oh yeah!” he said. “Show me your booty, baby.” Cas nodded real quick, then got off the table, turned around and bent over for Dean. “Mmmm…beautiful…” Dean remarked to himself as he put both hands onto Cas’ ass and smeared the pie all around, rubbing the soft skin in slow circles. Cas gasped lightly as his hardening dick rubbed against the table.

“Am I still a dummy?”

“Nu-uhhhh,” Dean moaned. He leaned over and ran his tongue along one of Cas’ cheeks. “Best pie in Kansas.”

“You like it?”

“Ohh, baby,” Dean continued to hum and groan as his licks grew more and more erratic, closing his eyes when he finally got between Cas’ cheeks. He lapped over his tight hole and grinned. “Best damn rosebud in the whole fuckin’ world.”

“Ahhhh,” Cas inhaled as his husband began to rim him. “Deaaaan…”

“That’s good, baby, good.” Dean muttered between licks. He reached beneath Cas’ legs and lightly grasped his hard on, stroking gently. Cas clawed at the table as he bucked into Dean’s hand, moaning and tossing his head back. “You gonna be a good boy and cum for me?”

“Y-yes,” Cas moaned. He began to thrust into Dean’s quickening jerks. “Ohhhhh!”

“Cum, baby. My beautiful little baby.” Dean’s licks grew fast along with his hand movements. He dipped his tongue in and out of Cas’ hole, getting the remnants of crust and filling on his chin as he rimmed.

“Aaah! Dean! Deaaan!”

Then all at once, Cas yelled loudly and fired off a hot load, straight onto the table. Dean tugged at him with a firm grip, rimming softer and smiling around his own tongue. As Cas came down from his orgasm, panting and moaning in a tiny, raspy voice, Dean pressed kiss after kiss on his hole, then his cheeks. He let off his dick and massaged his ass with both hands. “You sure know how to make me feel better.”

* * *

Sam managed to finagle his way out of working late, using the tactic that Gabriel suggested. “So I can work harder tomorrow,” Sam said. “You know.”

“Oh, yeah okay. That makes sense. Don’t want you nodding off or anything.”

“Exactly. So I’ll see you later.”

“Take care, Sammy. See ya at home.”

Sam waved over his shoulder and walked out of the diner. Dean was happy to have Sam be tame with him. He thought maybe he was starting to realize that the diner was where he belonged.

But that wasn’t the case. Sam really just wanted to go and hang out with Gabe like they had planned. Neither of them even knew what they would do; they had made rough plans to meet downtown at 8. So he biked there and arrived right on time.

“Yo, big guy!” Gabe shouted from one side of a big fountain. Sam parked his bike at a rack and smiled at him. Gabe came running.

“Why do you call me that?” Sam asked, chuckling nervously.

“’Cause you’re a big guy,” Gabe said, plopping his hands into his pockets. “And not just big like tall, but big like wow. You’re a big guy. Oh, not fat though.”

“Ye-eaah, I know I’m not fat. Thanks, I guess?”

Gabe smirked. “Welcome.”

“So what’s this all about, anyway?”

“Thought we could talk more. Away from work. Might be nice.”

Sam made a little nod as he squat to lock his bike up. “I agree. We don’t really know much about you. Now you said you have three brothers, right?”

“Uh huh. All dicks.”

“Really?” Sam asked. He got up from the ground and brushed his knees off for no real reason. Gabe smiled.

“Yeah, yeah, I think you know how it is.”

“Well, Dean is only a dick half the time.”

“And the other half?” Gabe began to walk and Sam followed.

“The other half, he’s a jokester but a decent guy.”

“Better than my bros.”

“Tell me about them.”

Gabe cracked his neck as they kept walking. They rounded the fountain then down the sidewalk, passing small stores and restaurants. It wasn’t the liveliest of nights, but the air was calm and people were having a good time.

“Okay,” Gabe began. “So my oldest brother is a real asshole. He picked on all of us when we were younger and still fucking does.”

“I’m sorry,” said Sam.

“No worries. I’m kind of estranged from them all.”

A little breeze whipped up and Sam had to brush a couple strands of hair out of his face. He looked at Gabe and frowned. “Why? Are they that bad?”

“They uh, they don’t really _like_ me.”

“Why? If you don’t mind me asking. You seem like a decent guy.”

Gabe frowned, blushing a little. “Thanks,” he said. “But um, it’s complicated. They just don’t get me!”

“Hmm…I guess I can’t force you to tell me.”

“Nope!” Gabe jeered. “And we came to talk about you, anyway!”

“Fair enough. What do you want to know?”

Gabe smacked his lips a couple times, looking up at the trees along the sidewalk. He looked whimsical for a moment. His eyes peered over at Sam then looked away real quick. Sam sniffed. “Well?”

“I dunno.”

Sam couldn’t help but laugh. “I was expecting you to rake me across the coals!” He pushed a little more hair out of his face. But Gabe just shook his head. They slowed down. “What’s wrong?” Sam asked.

Gabe hummed. His voice got low. “Promise not to laugh? Or judge?”

“Um. Sure. I don’t judge. What?”

“I sorta, maybe, kinda just wanted to hang out with you. Not talk.”

“That’s fine,” Sam answered quickly. He cleared his throat, looking surprised, and then kept walking again. “It’s good for us to all know each other. You must feel weird as the only person not in our family working there.”

“Def,” Gabe agreed. “But it’s cool, it’s cool. I like working with you.”

They looked at each other real quick, then straight forward again. Sam cleared his throat once more. His cheeks turned red. “I like working with you, too.”

Then Gabe ceased up all of the sudden. Sam stopped and looked back at him. “What’s wrong?” he asked.

“I should prolly get going!” Gabe said. He shook his head side to side fast, then began to walk backwards. Sam furrowed his brow.

“Don’t you want to…well…”

“I’ll see you at work tomorrow!” Gabe yelled, running away. “Bye big guy!”

Sam scratched his head as he watched Gabe disappear. _Weird_ , he thought. _Very weird._


	6. Now we're in a fix!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bad news changes everything for the diner, causing Dean to reflect on his past choices and future decisions.

 

As Sam predicted, Gabe acted like Monday never happened.

“Afternoon, gents!” he called out as he came into the diner for his shift the next day. Dean was ringing up a customer while Sam waited on an order from Cas. Gabe went up to the counter after the customer was done so that Dean could clock him in.

“How was your first day off?” Dean asked.

“Great,” said Gabe. Dean didn’t know about his rendezvous with Sam. “You hold the fort down alright without me?”

“Sure dude,” Dean said, chuckling. “But we’re glad you’re back.”

“Yeah. Me, too. So what’s new?”

“Not much.”

“How’s your husband?”

“Amazing and sparkling as usual.”

“Good to hear.”

Sam rushed by on his way to deliver the order just then, passing Gabe and quickly saying, “hey.”

“Well hi, Sam! How are ya?”

“Good,” Sam said, talking a little short because he had to get the customers situated. Then he walked back to the counter and smiled, talking quietly. “Are you alright?”

“Uh, yeah? Why?”

“You seemed…kinda…ah, never mind. It’s fine.”

Gabe looked befuddled. “O-okay.”

While they were catching up, their mailman came in and handed Dean the usual stack of junk and bills. As he sorted through, the diner continued its usual clinking and clattering, the grill sizzling in the back and many patrons talking amongst themselves. But Dean opened a letter up and loudly ruined the atmosphere with a great big, “SHIT!”

The whole place fell silent. Customers were still eating, but quietly and not talking at all, waiting to hear Dean’s explanation. Cas poked his head through the kitchen window and asked, “love?”

Dean wriggled the letter in his hand, reading it to himself then said, “They want to build here.”

“Who!?” Cas, Sam and Gabe all asked in unison, and perhaps some diners did, too.

“Developers. MEG incorporated wants to build townhouses.”

Cas put his hands on his hips. “Well they can’t just force us to leave.”

“Babe, we don’t actually _own_ the diner. We’re leasing.”

Gabe had to chime in now, as Cas stared with sad, big eyes. “You didn’t buy it? What about that old picture of it with the FOR SALE sign?”

“We couldn’t afford to actually buy it,” said Dean.

“Oh. Well, that sucks. But they still can’t just take it from you, leasing or not. That’s totally rude!”

Dean shook his head. “They can, they can. Look, it says here that the current property owners have agreed.”

“Totally rude!” Gabe repeated.

“So we’re just going to up and leave like that?” Cas asked. Dean looked back at him and said nothing, thinning his lips.

* * *

“It can’t end this way,” Cas said. After a long, bitter shift at the diner, they finally made it home. He was getting washed up in the bathroom while Dean bypassed it all and flopped upon the bed. “Oh, no. You have to brush your teeth first.”

“Why…”

“A million whys, Dean. Now you’re just being silly. Come on.” Dean pushed his face into a pillow and shook his head, but Cas was getting irritated. “There has got to be a solution to this developer problem. I can’t imagine we are absolutely forced out of the land.”

“Don’t talk about it,” Dean moaned.

“I’m sorry. But, it really must be addressed. You aren’t going to let the diner close, are you?”

“Not if I can help it,” Dean said. “But I dunno if I have any power here.”

“Oh, Dean,” Cas cooed. He left the bathroom and stepped over to the bed, sitting down gently and running a hand over Dean’s back. “You’re my strong, brave, handsome man. Of course there’s something you can do.”

“What, then?!”

“I don’t know, I don’t know. Use that big brain of yours.”

Dean just sighed as Cas stroked the back of his head. He rolled onto his side and glanced up at him. “You remember when I brought you home to my mom?”

Cas giggled. “Yes, of course. Why are you bringing that up now?”

Ignoring his question, Dean continued to reminisce. “We had been at the movies, remember?”

“We always did that. It was a safe place to be together.”

“Heheh, yeah. We’d sit in the same movie for like seven hours just so we could hold hands.”

“There was something fun about it, wasn’t there?” Cas asked with a smile. He took Dean’s hand in his and thumbed over his wedding band.

“Definitely. But after my mom met you it was way better.”

Dean closed his eyes and recalled that day like it had just happened. He was 24, Cas was 27. Mary knew that they were friends but she had no idea to what extent. Up until then, Dean had managed to remain in the closet.

So they showed up around 7 in the evening, since Dean knew Mary would be making dinner. Her disease was starting to weaken her, but nobody else knew about it then.

“Hi, Dean,” Mary said from the kitchen. “Did you have a nice day?”

“Yeah, um, we did.”

He and Cas stood awkwardly in the threshold. Mary turned from the stove and smiled at them. “Hi, Cas. I didn’t know you were here. But there’s enough dinner for you, too. I forget them I’m not feeding Samuel.”

Cas smiled. “Thank you, Mrs. Winchester.”

“Certainly,” said Mary. But she looked at them funny, sensing some shyness. “What’s the matter, boys?”

“Um, mom? I have to tell you something.”

“What could it be?” Mary asked, looking worried all of the sudden.

“See, well, uh, the thing is…Cas…”

Mary fixed her eyes on Cas. “Are you alright, honey?” Cas nodded, smiled but said nothing. They agreed that Dean had to tell her.

“Um, Cas is kind of my…my boyfriend.”

Dean’s body buckled and he expected Mary to go off (even though she rarely ever did), but instead she smiled real big and said, “Oh, honey, that’s wonderful.”

Bright red, Dean forced a smile, sighed in relief but kept his body stiff. He didn’t expect the outing to go nearly so well and he figured there would be a catch. But no, Mary walked up to them and took Dean’s cheek, kissed him softly and said, “I’m proud of you, Dean.”

Dean smiled from the memory momentarily, but then the diner came back into focus and he grouched once more. Cas shook his head. “We will sleep on it, okay?” he said, knowing what Dean was thinking about.

“I guess.”

“Dean…”

“Alright,” Dean agreed.

Cas leaned down and gave him a little kiss. “But please brush your teeth first.” Dean rolled his eyes and went over to the bathroom, just to make Cas happy.

At least a grumpy Dean and sad Cas was good for Sam, because that meant no THUMPA-THUMPA-THUMPA “FUCK!! FUCK!! FUCK!!” to keep him awake until dawn. He relaxed into his bed with a pleasant expression on his face, free from his brother’s love making and looking forward to the diner going away. Maybe it was a sign from God that Dean was full of shit and he had to move on? Either way, Sam would be back in school soon, no doubt. And that made him very, very happy.

But just when he thought he would be sleeping early, his phone chimed. He had a text from Gabe. “Your bro okay?” it said.

“I’m not sure,” Sam wrote back.

“Whys that?”

“He’s depressed and confused. I feel bad, but what can we do?”

“You’re really gonna let the diner go like that?”

Sam paused for a moment with his reply. He thought about how sad Dean would be to lose the one thing in his life that made him happy. But that wasn’t true, he had Cas, and no matter what happened he would. So life could be worse for him. Sam on the other hand had no one, just a strong desire to continue his education.

“Yes,” Sam finally wrote. He followed it immediately with “It was a stupid endeavor anyway.”

“You actually hate working there huh?” Gabe wrote back after a few minutes.

“Pretty much.”

“You don’t think it’s nice to have something like that with your brother?”

“Not exactly.”

“Think about it, big guy; that diner’s the last thing big family bond you guys got. All the arguing you do, and without your mom around to keep you together, I bet you’ll lose touch hella fast.”

Sam had to read Gabe’s text over a few times. He was right. They did argue all the time and their mom _was_ the mediator. Without the diner, they would fall apart. But would it matter? Sam wasn’t happy working there. Then again, Dean wouldn’t be happy without it.

“Either way, what can I do?” Sam finally texted back to Gabe.

“Use that Law school training you got. I bet you can figure a way out.”                                           

“I don’t know about that.”

“C’mon. Think about it. There’s bound to be a loophole.”

“I guess.”

“Don’t just guess—do. Okay? Hold onto your family. You don’t wanna let it go.”

“I guess,” Sam wrote back again. Gabe didn’t respond, and shortly thereafter Sam fell asleep.


	7. Massages from Heaven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The boys scramble to save the diner from MEG, meanwhile Gabe grows fonder of Sam, and Cas gives Dean a nice massage.

 “You mean ta’ tell me that y’all don’t even own this place outright?!” Bobby, upon learning of the diner’s fate, was less than amused. Dean refilled his coffee cup with a solemn, tired face.

“We didn’t have enough.”

“Ya couldn’t take out a loan?”

“Not that big. Believe me, Bobby, I tried. But when they offered it as a lease, I had to accept. It was generous enough that they even gave us that chance.”

Bobby shook his head. “Well it’s come ta bite ya in th’ ass now,” he muttered. “We’re all gonna have to find a new place ta’ eat at.”

“I guess so,” Dean sighed.

“It’s a damn shame.”

As Dean sulked begin the counter and Bobby continued his coffee drinking with a dreary face, Sam got up from a booth he had been sitting at in the back, phone in hand and paperwork in the other. It was just them and Bobby inside the diner at that early hour, and Sam had be preoccupied for a little while.

“So get this,” Sam said, plopping down on a stool to Bobby’s right. He put the paperwork, which included the letter from MEG incorporated and the original lease for the property, in front of him and turned it to Dean. Bobby watched from under the brim of his baseball cap. “MEG hasn’t bought the land from our lease holders yet. I called them up and they said if we can buy it out from under them, we keep the lot and everything on it.”

Dean looked up from the coffee maker he was cleaning and turned to Sam with wide, focused eyes. “What?” he asked in disbelief.

“I confirmed it with them; if we can buy it out from under them, we keep it. As the proper owners, they can’t force us to sell it. The current owners now want to because they don’t especially need the property. Remember, they wanted us to buy it originally.”

“So, so you’re saying there’s a way out?”

Sam nodded, but not so confidently. “But we need to get the money.”

“How much?”

“85,000.”

“Shit.” Dean inhaled sharply and ran a hand over his head. “That’s more than they wanted to buy it in the first place. How are we gonna do that?”

Bobby cleared his throat as the brothers talked. He pulled a checkbook out of his back pocket, scribbled something down onto it then silently slid it over the counter to Sam. “There’s your first 200,” he said.

Sam took up the check and looked it over with big eyes. “Thank you, Bobby,” he said in a soft voice. “That’s…that’s really nice of you.”

Dean leaned over and snatched the check out of Sam’s hands. “Do you think other people would wanna help us out, too?”

Bobby shrugged. “Could be,” he said. “I know _I_ sure like the place.” He left some cash for his bill then walked out without saying anything else. Dean, holding his breath, kept looking down at the check. Sam pursed his lips.

“What?” Dean asked.

“We’re going to ask for handouts?”

“Not handouts. Donations.” Sam seemed unhappy. “Hey, hey, I don’t wanna do it either. It’s pretty ghetto and crappy, but what else are we supposed to do?”

“I don’t know, maybe we can actually offer something?”

“Like what?”

Cas looked over through the kitchen window. He propped his chin up on the ledge, smiling big and said, “Car wash!”

Dean laughed. “What, you?”

“All of us. Why not?”

“You know I don’t like you shakin’ your ass around for other people,” Dean said with a stiff sigh, but Sam was more approving.

“Exactly, Cas,” he said. “Things like that.”

“What else would you suggest?” Cas asked, tilting his head. “For 85k we certainly need more than just one carwash, you know.”

“I dunno,” Dean said with a shrug. He turned to Sam. “We’ll ask Gabe tonight. He’s pretty good with that sorta thing.”

* * *

“Carwash!” Gabe shouted. “I LOVE it! Let’s do it! Nude!”

“Uh, no!” Dean groaned. He blushed a little. “We don’t need to get arrested.”

Gabe laughed and drummed his fists on the counter top right next to a customer. Sam had to run up behind Gabe and tell him to stop. “What?” Gabe groaned.

“Don’t bother the customers like that,” Sam said quickly. But the customer, a middle aged man in a dark blazer with a bright tie, turned his head to the boys and raised an eyebrow. “No bother,” he said, in a sultry British accent. “Though I am rather curious about this. What is it that you so desperately need money for?”

Gabe sat down on the stool next to the customer, propping himself up on his elbow with the other hand on his hip. “We’re gonna lose the diner if we don’t get enough scratch.”

“Ahh, that’s a bit of a pickle now, isn’t it?”

“Yeah definitely,” said Gabe. “So we gotta think about ways to raise money.”

“I see,” the man continued. “Well, you’ve got _The Best Pie in Kansas_ , don’t you?”

“Uh huh,” said Gabe. Sam was back to buzzing around the tables, but Dean and Cas were both in the kitchen and they popped their heads over the window ledge and said, “yes!” in agreement with the customer.

“I say you have a charity pie sale, just in time for the festive season.”

“That’s good!” Gabe cheered. “Yeah! I like that. Cas? Whaddya think?”

Cas’ eyes widened. “Um. How many pies would I have to make?”

“A good many, I’d hope,” the customer said with a nod. He sipped on the drink he had before him. “Then you can put a high price on them. For the cause, of course. You wouldn’t want to market them without it. But you could throw together some nice pamphlet or so, hmm?”

Cas disappeared into the kitchen again, but Dean remained at the window. Gabe was really into what the customer was saying. “Yeah, yeah, we can do that!” He said. “Right, Sam?”

“Sure,” Sam agreed with his back turned away, refilling water into a couple glasses at a booth. He came back to the counter, where Dean had come around and the customer was paying up his tab, getting ready to leave.

“I’d say you have a splendid enough name ‘round these parts that you can muster up a decent group of folks. If you publicize it appropriately, of course. I’ll turn up for it.”

“Awesome,” said Dean, pinging open the register. “Appreciate that.”

“Absolutely,” the customer said, grinning real quick. “Cheers.”

He walked out of the diner after that, then Gabe turned to Dean and drummed his fists on the counter once more. “We gotta get on this!” he said.

“Yeah, alright,” said Dean. “Let’s uh, hmm…what else. Hey, Sammy?”

“What?”

“What else do you think we can do?”

“What about a book drive and sale?”

Dean rolled his eyes. “Really, Sam? You pick the nerdiest thing possible?”

“No, I like it!” said Gabe. “We can get like, books from libraries. Do they do that? Do libraries ever give away free books?”

“I’m not sure,” Sam said with a shrug. “Maybe we can ask around?”

“Mmm,” Dean interjected. He took a thin washrag from a hook under the counter and lightly wiped off around the register absentmindedly. A couple walked up to the counter and he kept talking to Sam as he rang them up. “How ‘bout you take the morning off tomorrow and go scope out what book places can do for us?”

Sam nodded. “Alright, I can live with that.”

“Make a list of where you’re gonna go or something, okay?”

“Sure.”

Dean smiled at Sam, still making a serious face, then finished handing the customers their change before disappearing into the kitchen once more. He began talking quietly to Cas back there. Sam had to take another table’s order, but as soon as he was done, Gabe grabbed his arm and yanked him to the side. “Huh?” Sam asked, staring down at him. “What?”

Gabe’s slim fingers clung to the bunched up sleeve wrapped around Sam’s elbow and sucked his teeth. Quietly, he asked “can I come with you tomorrow?”

“I thought you had class?”

“No, not tomorrow.”

“Sure? You aren’t just saying that, and then cutting class, are you?”

Gabe smirked naughtily. “Ma-aybe,” he sang. Sam shook his head, though he couldn’t help but laugh.

“I don’t approve of that, but as long as I don’t know, I guess I can’t say anything either way.”

“There we go. Heheh. Text me in the morning okay?”

“Sure.”

* * *

After the diner closed that evening, the three men all headed home and went to bed almost immediately. While Dean was slipping in and out of different moods, Cas was already planning what their flyers could potentially look like.

“We should advertise the carwash in advance,” he said, sitting at his desk near the bed, a Sharpie marker in his hand while Dean paced the floor. “A poster or something similar.”

“Sure,” Dean said quickly, looking down.

“Love?”

“What.”

“Could you settle down? You’re worrying me.”

“It’s not like everything is perfect !” Dean snipped. Cas scribbled a few things down then got up and walked right up to Dean. He hugged him real tight, closing his eyes and he relaxed against his chest. “What’s this for?”

“Reminding you how much I love you,” Cas sighed with a smile. Dean hugged him back.

“I know, babe. I love you, too. But I’m just…aah…I’m so fucking heated about this diner. This money.”

“Could you forget about it for the rest of the night?”

Dean, pausing for a moment, patted Cas on the back and nodded gently. “Alright, sure. I will. What do you wanna think about instead?”

“How about a backrub?”

“For me or you?”

“You, of course.”

“Guess I can’t say no to that, huh?”

Dean chuckled a little, then pulled off his shirt and stepped out of his pants. He then slid his boxer briefs down and lay on their bed, back facing up. Cas watched him with a shy smile. He undressed completely as well then came over and straddled Dean across his butt. Dean grunted a bit as Cas kept shifting his weight. Once he sat down on him, he had to lean forward to his nightstand, pull the drawer out then pick one of many bottles inside.

“How about the warming kind, love?” Cas asked.

“That’s cool.”

Cas smirked as he pulled out a thin little bottle. He cracked open the lid, then drizzled a thin, sticky ribbon of massage oil across Dean’s muscular back. The bottle was returned to its drawer and Cas laid his palms down upon Dean’s shoulder blades, rubbing in slow circles. Dean folded his arms over the pillow and rested his head on its side. He closed his eyes and sighed happily. “Babe,” he hummed.

“Yes, Dean?”

“Feels so good.”

“I’m glad.”

Cas’ fingers made circles as well now, caressing Dean’s slick flesh with the utmost of care. He thumbed up and down his spine, then over the balls of his shoulders and across the blades once more. Dean grunted and groaned happily, letting heavy breaths ease out with every other stroke. Then Cas laid down on him, pressing his chest to Dean’s greasy back, nuzzled his face into the crook of his neck and kissed delicately. “I love you,” Cas whispered.

“Oh, baby, I love you, too. So much.”

Dean turned his head more so that he could kiss his husband, long and slowly. Their tongues entwined very gently, just barely batting at each other. Then the kiss slowed and Cas moved away a little. “You’re sleepy, Dean,” he whispered.

“I know,” Dean replied, somewhat reluctantly.

“Sleep, darling.”

“I will.”

Cas slid off of Dean’s back and onto his side, though he kept one hand upon his skin to keep massaging. He lay there and watched Dean slowly drift off into sleep as he continued to massage his firm flesh. “It’s going to work out,” Cas whispered.


	8. It's gonna be great

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dean distracts Cas while he's working on their fundraisers. Sam takes Gabe to the library and finds more than just donated books.

 Dean and Cas got to work earlier than usual. Cas had a lot of inspiration in his sleep so he wanted to get on the ideas as soon as possible. After turning off the alarm, the two of them went straight to the kitchen to start setting up, but Cas was going through these papers he had written up even earlier.

“How about this,” he said, holding a page out in front of him. Dean made coffee for them. “‘Dear patrons; we started this diner in honor of our late mother’s lifelong wish to run a restaurant. Fulfilling this for her has been wonderful, but now we are under attack. Unfortunately, land developers plan to tear down our diner unless we can earn enough money to buy them out. We are asking you, as faithful customers, to participate in our events and help save our beloved diner.’ What do you think?”

“It’s hokey,” Dean said immediately.

“Well…perhaps…but it makes sense, doesn’t it?”

“Yeah.”

“You don’t like it?”

Dean walked up behind Cas, slipping a cup of coffee around him with both arms, and pressed several kisses against his neck. “I think it’s great,” he said.

“But?” Cas asked, taking the coffee and sipping it gently.

“ _But_ it’s hokey.”

“I’m not sure how else to go about it.”

Dean pressed more soft kisses, smacking his lips each time. “What else do you have?”

“Adverts for the carwash,” said Cas. He put the first paper down then spread a few others over the stainless steel countertop. “We can photocopy these and pass them around. And here’s one for the window.”

Dean gently picked up the paper and looked it over. “Charity Carwash” it said in big letters, then under it was a very brief description on why they were doing it. “I’m not gonna wash any cars, okay?” Dean said.

“That’s fine. I can. Maybe Sam or Gabe will help me, depending on how popular it is.”

Cas plucked the paper from Dean and stacked them all up again, then set them aside and took his coffee once more. As I sipped it, Dean wrapped his arms around him tightly and exhaled a long, slow breath. His lips went against Cas’ neck again. “You’re gonna dress decent, right?” Dean hummed.

“Yes,” Cas answered, rolling his head to the side and closing his eyes. “I won’t be nude or anything.”

“Shirt on,” Dean said. “I don’t need my husband shakin’ all he’s got for everyone to see.”

“Of course,” said Cas, nodding. “Nor would I.”

Dean made a trail of kisses up to Cas’ cheek, then turn him with his chin and pressed their lips together. Cas set his coffee down and reached back to touch Dean’s sides. He moaned very softly and broke the kiss. “You’re feeling much better today,” he said.

“Mmm…I got a real nice massage last night.”

“Oh, did you?” Cas teased, chuckling. Dean’s kisses and gentle licks went over his cheek still.

“Mmhmm.”

“Who gave you a massage?”

“Ah, you know. This real sexy little guy I know. He’s the hottest, sweetest man I’ve ever been with.”

As Dean’s hands went underneath Cas’ shirt, teasing his firm flesh with the pads of his fingers, Cas moaned louder and smiled. “He sounds lucky,” he said.

“Nah,” Dean said between kisses. “He could get anyone. I’m the lucky one.”

Cas didn’t respond to that. Instead, he bucked his hips backwards against Dean and put his hands securely on the countertop.

“You horny, baby?” Dean whispered.

“Yes.”

Dean’s fingers rubbed circles around Cas’ nipples. Cas arched his back and moaned louder.

“You want me to fuck you, baby?” Dean groaned.

“Y-yes.”

“Tell me how badly you want it.”

“I need it.”

“That’s good,” Dean said, grinning. He let his fingers off of Cas’ nipples and pulled them out of his shirt. Then he ran around the waistband of Cas’ pants, around to the front where he undid the fly and dropped them to his knees, briefs and all. Cas looked over his shoulder and Dean, parting his lips and breathing heavily. Dean pushed up against him harder, palming Cas’ growing erection. “You want me in you, baby?”

“Yes.”

“Yes what?”

“Yes Dean.”

“That’s good. Yeah.”

Looking particularly satisfied, Dean returned his hands to his own pants, pulled his zipper down just enough to whip out his throbbing cock and prodded it against Cas’ exposed ass. Cas gasped lightly. He snatched up a bottle of cooking oil from the counter and handed it back to Dean.

“Oh, you’re naughty, huh?” Dean chuckled, taking the bottle and spilling some into his palm.

“I’m always naughty for my husband,” said Cas. Dean rubbed his slick palm around his dick quickly, pulling at the flesh and lubricating it nicely. He then took his thumb and pressed it up against Cas’ asshole. He lunged forward and moaned. “Dean!” he shouted.

“Mmmm, love it when you say my name, babe.”

“Ahhhh,” Cas gasped. Dean’s thumb slid inside his puckerhole and Cas tensed up. He worked it around fluidly, getting it nice and slippery for his dick. But first he pulled out and slipped his index finger in it to push in deeper. “Deeaan!”

“Fuck my finger, Cas,” Dean moaned. “Fuck my finger.”

Cas’ hands gripped at the countertop more, his body beginning to bend over and buck back over Dean’s penetrative finger. He moaned musically then shouted when Dean pulled out.

“Ready for me, baby?”

“Yes!” Cas yelled. “Fuck me…”

A big grin stretched across Dean’s face as he put both hands on either side of Cas’ ass, grabbing the round cheeks and spreading them to expose his little hole for Dean to see. He wet his lips as he slowly pushed his hips, driving the sticky, slick cockhead into the hole.

“Aaah! Deaaan!” Cas shouted, his breath sharp and hoarse. “F-fuck!”

“Take it, baby. Take that big dick. Unnggg…” Dean watched with hungry eyes as Cas slowly but surely swallowed up his massive, pulsating dick with extreme hunger. He pushed inside and began to rock his hips, rubbing that sweet spot and making Cas yell loudly.

“Dean! Dean! DEAN!” he screamed as Dean picked up a steady pace. The countertop wiggled beneath them, rocking and smacking into the wall just a bit. It was nice to get to work early.

Dean wrapped his arms around Cas’ torso and lowered his chest right along his back, bending him down over the counter. That way he could really slam into him but hold on tight. He grasped Cas right up against him.

“Ohh, Dean!” Cas moaned. Dean had his face right against his husband’s neck now, nuzzling and breathing heavy with each thrust.

“You’re so naughty, baby,” Dean whispered between huffs. “Getting fucked in the kitchen at work. So naughty.”

“Mmmmnnnn,” Cas hummed desperately. “Good…so good!”

“You’re gonna cum for me?”

“Y-yes.”

“You gonna cum without me jerking you off?”

“A-alright.”

“Cum, baby, you can do it.”

Cas braced himself hard, rubbing is dick just barely against the countertop while Dean continued to slam him roughly. Their balls smacked together so hard, meeting with such sweetness that Dean couldn’t help but smile as he moaned. His nails dug into Cas’ shirt, pulling him close with each thrust.

“Cum, baby,” Dean said again, more urgently this time. Cas’ face turned bright red as he focused on the slamming, the ramming and the dick jamming that filled him so well. He groaned and bucked wildly against his husband’s cock, gasping so loud between needy screams, echoing the sheer pleasure of having his most sensitive area rocked like a hurricane.

“Deaaaaaaaaaan!” Cas cried out all at once, his throbbing, red out dick pulsating as it shot a thin load out onto the counter. “Ahhhhh!!”

“Goooooood,” Dean groaned in the bottom of his throat, then biting his lip as Cas tensed up around him. It was just enough to send him over the top. “Caaaaas!” He moaned, slamming his hips once last time to send his seed flowing deep within him.

“Ohh!” Cas gasped.

“Damn! Ahh! Fuck!”

Then their orgasms quickly calmed and Dean stroked Cas firmly, catching his breath. “Mmmm,” he hummed, “So good. So naughty.” He gave Cas a quick but warm kiss, a little sloppy from his falling strength. “Damn.”

“I…haaa…” Cas cooed. “I have to get cleaned up.”

“Right, right.” Dean slipped out of Cas then handed him a towel. “Here you go, baby.”

“Thank you, Dean.” Cas took it with a smile and dabbed between his cheeks. “Another day then, hm?”

* * *

Gabe hopped up onto the handlebars of Sam’s bike and extended his hand, pointing. “GO!” he yelled. Sam was still sitting on the seat and he looked pretty confused. “Um,” he stuttered. “I think it’s pretty unsafe to sit there.”

“I’ve done it before, it’s fine.”

“I don’t really feel comfortable with it.”

“I said it’s fine!” Gabe looked over his shoulder and laughed. “Don’t be such a sissy!”

“I’m not being a sissy,” Sam said. “I just don’t want you to get hurt.”

“Then you should get a license and a car.”

Sam pressed his lips together. “Okay, fine. But if you _do_ get hurt it’s not my fault.”

“Deal.”

Shaking his head, Sam pushed off the ground and began to pedal slowly. His hair blew back behind him as they moved. Gabe held onto the front with his legs spread. “It’s awesome!” he shouted.

“Sorta,” Sam answered. “You should get your own bike.”

“I dunno how to ride.”

“Seriously?”

They zoomed down a sidewalk, passing a bunch of stores and a decent amount of foot traffic. It was a nice day, with a mild breeze and cool air. A lot of people were walking dogs downtown.

“I never got around to it I guess,” Gabe explained.

“So do you just get rides and take busses?”

“Yeah and I walk a lot.”

“How long did it take you to get over here today?”

“Almost an hour.”                                                                   

“Seriously?”

The rounded a corner and Sam had to pedal harder uphill. There was a bike ramp running along a staircase that went to the library. A bunch of people walked down the steps, most of them with kids and almost all of them carried books in their arms and in bags. Gabe wriggled a bit as Sam peddled. “I’m too heavy?”

“No, you’re fine,” said Sam, huffing hard.

They made it to the top and Sam rolled over to a bike rack along the sidewalk. Gabe hopped off and ran ahead inside the library. “Hey, wait!” Sam called out. He sighed thinly to himself as he locked the bike up, then went in behind Gabe. “Do you even know what you’re doing here?” he asked.

“Nope,” Gabe admitted with a cute shrug. He had been standing in the lobby as people passed on both sides. He looked up at Sam and smiled as he walked, then followed him to the front desk.

“Hi, um,” Sam cleared his throat and began to talk to the older women behind the counter. “My brother and I are trying to raise money to keep our restaurant running, and we’re considering a book sale. Is there any way that you could help out with that?”

“Hmmm,” the woman hummed pensively, taking her chin in her hand. “Do you have a date for it?”

“Not yet,” said Sam. Gabe stayed behind him and stared at the tiled floor. “But soon, I know that.”

“Alright. Well, let me go check with the manager if we have any overflow. Other than that, what if you posted an ad on our community board, accepting book donations?”

“Ohh, that’s good!”

“Of course. I’ll return shortly.”

She got up and wavered away behind the frumpy tan frock she had on. Sam turned around to Gabe with a smile. “Did you hear what she said?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s an awesome idea. We need to come up with a little flyer we can post.”

“Yeah.”

“Why are you being so quiet?”

“Huh?”

But then the clerk returned and took her seat once more. “Since we’ve received a good many donations lately, we definitely have some to spare. In fact we have so many books right now that we’ve become quite choosy about which ones stay. Do you have a truck with you?”

“Um, no. But we can come back with one. How many…books…exactly…is it?”

“Five or six large boxes full.”

“Oh! That’s good. Alright. Sure. Yeah, we can come back for them. Maybe not today, is that alright?”

“Of course,” said the woman. She took a blank piece of paper and handed it to Sam, along with a pen. “Could you just leave your contact information? So that we can keep them for you.”

“Sure, thank you. I appreciate this.”

He jotted down his name and number and handed it back to her. Then they said their goodbyes, a few more thank yous and the boys were good to go. Gabe was still being rather quiet.

“Are you alright?” Sam asked as they went back to his bike.

“Yeah I’m fine.”

“You sure?”

“Um, I think I’m gonna head home.”

“Wait, already?” Sam furrowed his brow. Gabe started to walk away. “Gabe! Stop!” He dashed up behind him real quick and grabbed him by the arm. “You aren’t doing this again. What’s wrong?”

Gabe kept him back turned to Sam, looking down and now not moving. “I just wanna get home.”

“This is the same thing you did last time. We work together, you can’t run. What’s on your mind? Did I do something wrong?”

“Nope, nope,” Gabe said quietly, shaking his head.

“Then what is it?”

He was silent for a second. Sam stood there, still holding onto his arm real soft with a worried expression on his face. “Gabe?”

But then Gabe ran out of Sam’s grip and dashed away. Sam shouted his name a few times, but the young man tore down the stairs and into the city so fast that Sam had only one chance to catch up. So he quickly unlocked his bike and jumped up, soaring down the ramp in pursuit of him. He raced along the sidewalk until he saw Gabe again. He was still running.

“GABE!”

He was still being ignored. Gabe took off down a sudden alleyway and Sam had to stop his bike. He jumped off and saw the Gabe had his back against a wall of brick.

“Gabe!”

Obviously having given up, Gabe slouched and slid down the wall until he was sitting. Sam crouched beside him. “Why are you running?”

“I hate being home and I hate my family,” said Gabe.

“But then why would you go home?”

“I’m not going home. I’m running away and hiding.”

“What?” Sam gasped. “Why?!”

Gabe didn’t answer. His hair was in his face and he blushed so hard, avoiding eye contact.

“Gabe?”

“My family doesn’t like me ‘cause I’m gay.”

“ _Ohh_ ,” Sam said. “I see. But…but why didn’t you just tell me? Don’t you think me of all people would be understanding of that? You’ve seen my brother.”

“I know, I…”

“What?”

Finally Gabe turned his head and look up at Sam through wisps of hair blocking his vision. His eyes looked sad.

“What?” Sam asked again.

“Nothin’,” said Gabe. He stood up then and started to walk away.

“Stop that!” Sam snapped. He got up as well. “Whatever your problem is, walking away solves nothing.”

“Can I tell you something?” Gabe asked. Once again, he turned around but this time he wouldn’t look up at Sam.

“Yes, of course. What is it?”

“I like you.”

“I like you too, Gabe. But when you act like this, you’re…I don’t want to say this, but you’re a little irritating.”

“No, no, I mean I _like_ you.”

Gabe peeped up at Sam quickly then look away again. Sam raised his eyebrows, widened his eyes and nodded very, very slowly. “Ohhh,” he said. Now it was starting to make sense. “I see.”

“Sorry, sorry!” Gabe said. He began to walk away, but this time Sam grabbed him by the arm and pulled him back, up to him close, then leaned down to his level and put a kiss on his lips. Gabe closed his eyes and leaned into him. It was a chaste kiss with closed lips, but Sam put a lot of care into it. Then he slowly moved away and used his free hand to clear a few strands of hair out of Gabe’s face.

“Is that better?” Sam whispered. Gabe nodded. “Now can I take you home on my bike, so you don’t have to walk?” He nodded again.


	9. Get your car in line!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The diner has it's first car wash, where a certain generous patron makes a second appearance.

 Gabe was very, very good at pretending things never happened. Once Sam got him home, he hopped off of the bike and ran in without even saying goodbye. Sam, feeling confused and a little dissed, shrugged it away as best as he could and made his way to the diner. Obviously he was more delighted about kissing Gabe than he realized, since Dean immediately laughed and said, “What happened to you?”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“All smiles like that. How was the library?” Dean was buzzing around the diner with dirty dishes, doing Sam’s job alright

“Good, actually. Very good. They have a bunch of books we can pick up that we’re welcome to sell.”

“Nerdy, but cool,” Dean said, nodding. He pushed through the door to the kitchen to drop off the dishes, give Cas a quick kiss over the fryer then come back out. “You gonna be able to take the floor again?”

“That’s fine,” said Sam. He popped into the bathroom real quick so he could get washed up, then came out and started to pick up where Dean left off.

“So we’re gonna have the carwash on Sunday,” Dean said. He pointed to a stack on the counter. “We got these flyers here but I think we should pass ‘em out, too.”

“Alright.”

Sam snatched a flyer when he passed the counter on his way to pick up the next order Cas had set on the ledge. They were nice and straight forward. Sam liked that. He figured he could out some time before lunch the next day and hand some out downtown. As he went to the kitchen window to grab the plated sandwiches, he waved the flyer at Cas.

“Did you write this up?”

“Yes,” said Cas.

“And who is going to wash the cars?”

“I am.”

Sam laughed. He looked over at Dean, but he didn’t seem very amused. “Cas is going to wash cars?”

“Yeah,” Dean answered in a really flat voice. He was ringing up a couple people. “He wanted to.”

“You, too, Dean?” Sam chuckled.

“Nah, I don’t think so. But if you wanna help out, you’re more than welcome to.”

 _Bing!_ The cash register opened and Dean put a few bills away, counted out some change and handed it off to the customer. They left with a smile and Dean turned to Sam, hands on his hips. “Well?”

“Well what?” Sam asked, joining his brother behind the counter to refill a soda. “Do you really expect me to dance around in a bikini?”

“Nope. ‘Course not. But I won’t stop you.”

“ _Ha,_ ha. We’ll see.”

* * *

The next couple days were rather uneventful. Sam gave flyers to passersby throughout the city, reeling in a decent amount of attention. He also convinced Dean to drive down to the library and pick up the books. It was six big boxes like the clerk had said, and they stowed them in the largest supply closet the diner had. Other than that, Sam and Cas sat down together and created a little ad for the library to post, inviting people to drop off books there for the sale as well. A few folks had dropped by to donate, but not that many yet.

When Sunday rolled around, Dean decided that they would close down the kitchen throughout the carwash. Even though they’d lose money on that, hopefully washing cars would make more. But they still offered drinks and premade desserts, so people were welcome to come in and snack a little while their car was cleaned.

Sam sat that one out, as they all expected, but Gabe was very eager to help. He showed up in swim shorts and a t-shirt, which Sam thought was kind of cold for autumn, but he was perfectly happy. He even brought sponges and soap from home.

Cas, on the other hand, was pressing his luck with Dean because he picked out the sluttiest pair of cut-off denim he owned. Add a skinny white tank top to it, and Dean was kind of pissed.

“I thought you like it when I look sexy?” Cas asked, batting his eyes.

“I _do_ ,” said Dean. “I just don’t want everyone in Kansas to be ogling you, too.”

“Since when have you become the prude in this marriage?”

Dean rolled his eyes. He put his arm around Cas and yanked him close to give him a kiss. “Babe, I’m no prude. But I wouldn’t be a very good husband if I didn’t get a little possessive of you, right?”

“That’s true,” said Cas. He kissed back twice. “It’s all because you love me.”

“Exactly. Now you get out there and rub your tits all over some guy’s car to make us money, alright? And maybe later you can give me a private wash.” Dean chuckled and smacked Cas on the butt. He squealed a bit and dashed out of the diner, then Dean turned to a very unamused Sam. “What?”

“You’re so two-faced.”

“What d’ya mean?”

“You seriously gave Cas shit for looking sexy?”

“What am I supposed to do? Let him parade himself around without him knowing I’m concerned? Sheesh.”

“It’s rude.”

“How?”

“Cas is one of the tamest, sweetest guys. You know that. He’s not easy.”

Dean rolled his eyes. “What do you even know about being married? Or dating?”

Sam smirked. He didn’t want to tell his brother about Gabe yet, since they hadn’t even declared a relationship. In fact, the first kiss was still the only kiss and their interaction had barely changed. But Gabe was calmer and smiled more at Sam. The atmosphere had relaxed and Sam could sense a shifting towards something long term. Still, he planned to put off telling Dean as long as he could, not because he wouldn’t understand but because he hadn’t known Gabe that long and they _were_ working together.

“You’re right,” Sam said, acting as if he forgave Dean the entire discussion all at once. “Sorry.”

“It’s cool, don’t worry about it. And either way, he looks good out there, huh?”

Dean walked around the back of the counter and stepped towards the front. He nearly pressed his nose to the glass and watched Cas as he walked around their first patron. He squeezed a peanut sponge out into a bucket, then reached over the windshield and scrubbed a bunch of bubbles around. Dean watched, licking his lips. “He really looks good out there.”

“I can’t exactly comment on that,” said Sam.

“Yeah I guess not. But…wow.”

They had a greater turn out of cars than they had expected. With just Gabe and Cas washing, the parking lot filled completely and a line was going out onto the main road. Cas was working hard and not saying much, but Gabe got sort of carried away with talking to the customers. Inside the diner, a lot of people were buying drinks, pie, cake and anything else they had easily on hand to serve. It was becoming quite profitable.

Bobby showed up with his truck, and the British man from the week before came by as well. He rolled up in a black luxury sedan and got into Cas’ line. He left the car for him to wash and headed inside. With his hands in the pockets of his blazer, he sauntered up to the counter and smiled at Dean. “Not a bad turnout, eh?”

“I can’t complain,” Dean said with a big grin.

“Though, I was surprised to see that you picked a carwash over a pie bake.”

“I think we’ll do that, too. I mean, we need a _ton_ of dough and I don’t think one day of washing cars is going to cut it. Even if we have five washes and ten pie bakes, I’m not so confident we’ll make what we need.”

“That would be unfortunate,” the British man said. “It would be a shame to see this place go. Not many others like it anymore.”

“You think?”

“I know.”

“Well alright then. But yeah, I know how you feel. This joint is…it’s real important to me. To all of us. Right, Sammy?”

“Huh?” Sam looked back from the window. He had been standing at the end of the booths, watching Gabe wash cars in a very flamboyant manner (“we need MUSIC!”, he kept saying to Cas).

“I said the diner’s important to us,” Dean repeated. “What are you doing?”

“Just staring I guess, I dunno.”

Sam had never given much thought to his sexuality before. He dated girls in high school and was always rather actively engaged in equal rights for other sexualities, but when it came to himself he really hadn’t thought it through. Up until then he just assumed to be straight, since he didn’t have any active male attractions, but the idea wasn’t unappealing. He liked Gabe a lot. And awful lot.

“Wait, seriously?” Dean said loudly, snapping Sam out of his heavy thinking. Apparently the mysterious customer handed Dean a $100 bill for the wash.

“Of course,” he said. “Looks like they know what they’re doing, and it’s not a bad show for the eyes either. Best of luck in the rest of your endeavors, but I will do my best to attend them.”

“Thanks,” said Dean. He looked rather humbled. The customer said, “Goodbye, darling” just as he left and disappeared into his sparkling car. To be honest, it didn’t arrive very dirty anyway.

“Who is that man?” Sam asked.

“No idea but I like him.”


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cas worries about pleasing Dean for their upcoming anniversary. Gabe comes over when Sam's alone and things get serious.

 Right after Sam had finished getting ready for bed and went into his room for the night, someone knocked on his door. “Who’s there?” he called out.

“Um, Sam?” Cas’ voice asked timidly.

“You can come in.”

The door opened up slowly and Cas, wrapped up in his robe, stepped inside. He held a large piece of poster board in his hands.

“What’s that?” Sam asked.

“I wanted to get your opinion.” Cas flipped it around to show a drawing of a thermometer that had big letters along that top reading, **OUR GOAL** , followed by an $85,000 mark. The bottom of the thermometer had been filled in with red and a small $875 sat beside it.

“I like it,” said Sam as he looked it over. “What are you going to do with it?”

“I was considering taping it to the window, or propping it somewhere near the counter. That way, everyone knows how much progress we are making, and what we still need.”

“It’s a good idea. But um, forgive me for asking this, but did you really need to come into my room to show me?”

“Mmm,” Cas hummed sadly, his blue eyes growing wide. “To be honest, I want to ask you something else.”

“Sure. What is it?”

Cas closed the door carefully and began to speak softer. “You know that your brother and I are celebrating our anniversary next week, right?”

“I wasn’t keeping track, but that sounds correct.”

“I’m having difficulty thinking of what I should do for him.”

“Hmm…I’m not sure. I never dated him.” Sam paused here to laugh, but Cas still looked very serious and he decided to sit next to him on the bed. “What did you do last year?”

“We went to a bed and breakfast and Dean was very…well…he was very _generous_ , physically. He also bought me flowers. And paid for a lovely dinner. It was so wonderful but I basically did nothing _for him_.”

“I don’t think I can help you out so much, Cas. Sorry.”

“I see,” Cas said, looking defeated. “I appreciate your effort. Thank you.”

“Sorry,” Sam said once more. Cas got up, holding onto his poster and smiled.

“There is no reason to apologize so much. I’ll figure it out. We’re going to make love now, I hope that doesn’t bother you.”

“Uhh…”

Cas left the room before Sam could answer. Bracing himself for a long night, he stretched out to switch off the lamp and happened to look at his phone real quick. There was a text from Gabe. All it said was “hey.”

“I’m about to go to sleep. Is something wrong?” Sam wrote back. The first one was sent almost 10 minutes ago, but Gabe replied right away.

“Nope.”

“How is everything?”

“Okay I guess. I wish you were here.”

“Are you home?”

“Yeah.” Then he followed with a second message. “Sucks.”

“Is your family giving you a hard time?”

“Not really but it’s awkward. They don’t like me working at the diner.”

“Really? Why?”

In the meantime, Dean and Cas were gearing up. Sam could hear a deep buzzing as Cas squealed a little every now and then, usually followed by Dean saying “Oh, shit, baby. Look at you,” or something similar.

“Think it might distract me from school or some crap like that,” Gabe wrote. It was Sam’s only solace in the storm of horrific sexual noises. He snuggled into the sheets more.

“Is it?”

“A little. But I don’t care about school. I just don’t wanna be home.”

“I’m sorry, Gabe.”

“It’s okay.”

“I’m going to ask Dean for the day off tomorrow, so I can start sorting through these books for the sale. Do you want to come over and help me?”

“Sure. When?”

“I guess it doesn’t matter. I’ll let you know what Dean says.”

Sam assumed Gabe fell asleep shortly after that, since he didn’t reply for the rest of the night.

* * *

He successfully managed to get the follow day off. Dean said it would be no problem, especially because Sam was helping with one of their fundraisers. The idea was that they would block out the parking spaces in front of the diner, save for the handicapped slot of course, and set up a bunch of bookshelves full of purchasable books. As long as they kept their eyes on the shelves and made sure nobody was stealing them, it was sure to work pretty well. That way, the book sale wasn’t restricted to just one day and they could still keep the diner running.

Sam sat in the middle of the living room, surrounded by the boxes of library donations. Before he got into them at all, Gabe knocked on the door.

“Hey, thanks for coming,” said Sam.

“Thanks for inviting me.”

He lead him through to where the boxes were. Gabe plopped down on the floor.

“I figured we can just organize them by genre. They don’t need to be alphabetical by author or anything like that.”

“Okay. That’s easy, right?”

“Yes.”

Sam flapped open one box and turned it onto its side. Books spilled out all over the floor and Gabe laughed. “A mess,” he remarked.

“We can get through it. Here. I’m going to put…” Sam picked up one book and looked it over. “Let’s first start by dividing them by fiction and non-fiction.”

“Cool.”                                 

They worked their way through the first box, which wasn’t too difficult, especially considering it was only two groups. Gabe kept saying it was “nerd work” but he was doing it anyway and having a pretty good time. When they started on the second box, Gabe started to cool down.

“Are you alright?” Sam asked, noticing the lack of enthusiasm in his friend.

“Yeah. Just thinking about having to get home.”

“You shouldn’t worry about it.”

“But I will ‘cause I gotta.”

“What’s the worst that could happen?”

“I dunno. They’re all fucking rude to me and make me feel like shit.”

“I’m sorry. Can I help?”

Gabe, holding a large book on medieval Europe, turned his eyes up to Sam and looked sad. “I dunno,” he said quietly.

“Um. What would you like me to do?”

Timidly, Gabe scooted closer to Sam, setting the book down into the non-fiction pile and then using that hand to run over Sam’s leg. He looked embarrassed as he did so. Sam took Gabe’s face in his hand and leaned down to kiss him. Gabe acted unsure of himself as Sam’s mouth opened up, taking his lower lip inside. Then Sam broke it off.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

Gabe shook his head. “I’m not a really good kisser,” he said softly.

“I think you’re fine. Come here.”

Sam motioned for Gabe to move into his arms. He held him close and kept kissing, stroking his back as he tilted his head to get deeper. Small moans came from Gabe as he placed his hands upon Sam’s chest. When the kiss slowly fell apart, Gabe looked up at Sam with big, hungry eyes. “I wanna have sex with you,” he whispered.

“Yeah, I wanna have sex with you, too,” Sam said with a smile. He ran his thumb down Gabe’s cheek. “Should we? Is that alright with you?”

“Uh huh.”

“Come to my room.”

They both got up and Gabe followed behind Sam as they went upstairs and into his bedroom. He closed the door behind them, then immediately went back to kissing Gabe. He held his face in his hands and he tongued his mouth, grunting a bit while Gabe moaned, breathing hard through his nose. They backed up to the bed and Sam gently pushed Gabe onto it, bringing his knees up on either side. Gabe laid back completely and stared up at Sam, ending the kiss with a gasp. Sam towered over him, hair hanging down in a desperate attempt to touch him.

“Are you nervous?” Sam asked, looking a little surprised. He rolled Gabe’s hips up and spread his legs, running his fingers into the waistband of his pants.

“A little. Have you ever boned a guy before?”

“No, but I’ve had anal with a woman so I’m no stranger to it.”

“O-okay,” Gabe said, nodding.

Sam sat up real quick to pull his own shirt off, exposing his hard body, which more than impressed Gabe. His eyes widened as he looked him over, but Sam didn’t really noticed. He was focused on making them both comfortable now. “Is this alright?”

“Yeeaaaah,” Gabe hummed musically, looking Sam up and down with a growing grin. A nervous yet curious hand reached out and touched Sam’s stomach. His careful tenderness made Sam suspicious.

“Is my body really that impressive?” he asked, chuckling a little. Gabe’s fingers tapped small paths across his skin.

“Yeah…”

“Do you know what you’re doing?”

Gabe blushed all of the sudden. “Uh,” he swallowed hard. His thighs tightened. “Y-yeah.”

“Okay. Well I’ll keep going.”

“Uh-huh…”

Both of Sam’s hands went back to Gabe’s waist, rubbing over his shirt and then dipping beneath his pants. He popped out the button and pulled down the fly, painfully slow and all the while Gabe watched with his forehead scrunched up. His chest raised and lowered dramatically with heavy breaths.

Sam gently gripped and tugged at Gabe’s pants, pulling them down along with his boxers to expose a throbbing dick. Sam wasn’t apprehensive or even nervous about manipulating a man for the first time, but he was rather intrigued. Gabe looked so cute with his cheeks all red, wisps of hair hanging in his face and his eyes darting back and forth that Sam had to lean down and kiss him. He touched their tender lips together with a tiny smack just before returning to his upright position.

“Um, Sam?” Gabe asked in a tiny voice.

“Yes?”

“Can I tell you something?”

“Sure,” Sam answered with a smile even though he was a little worried at what Gabe could possibly say at a time like that. His palm cupped Gabe’s erection and lightly rubbed, immediately causing the smaller of them to jolt and jump, arcing his back and yelping a bit. In his fit, he threw his hands to the side, clutching the covers and yelled, “I’m a virgin!!”

“What?” Sam stopped rubbing and stared at Gabe with his mouth open.

“I’m sorry! I dunno what I was thinking!” Gabe tossed his head to the side and he closed his eyes tightly, shunning himself from Sam’s sight.

“Wait, Gabe, i-it’s fine. But why didn’t you tell me?”

Still not looking, Gabe scrunched his face up and mumbled, “I didn’t want you to think I was a nerd.”

Sam laughed softly. He began to stroke Gabe’s hardon again. “Do I look like someone who cares about that?”

“I don’t want you to judge me.”

“Gabe…”

Sam released his hands and put them around Gabe’s arms. He laid down and held him close, hugging and comforting as best as he could. He stroked the back of his hair and kissed him. “Gabe…”

“Do you think I’m stupid?” Gabe asked.

“No, why would I?”

“’Cause I lied. And I’m 21 and never had sex.”

“How could I hold that against you? I’ve never had sex with a man. It’s new for us both. Do you still want to do it?”

Gabe nodded. Sam let up and set him down against the bed once more, pulling Gabe’s shirt off first. He reached over to his little nightstand and took a bottle of lubricant out. Gabe watched. “Do you have a lotta sex?”

“Nope. This is for me, on my own. Do you ummmm…do you ever put…you know…things inside you?” Sam spoke casually though red in the cheeks as he popped open the bottle and squeezed some onto his fingers.

“Yeah I have toys.”

“That’s good. So you’re no stranger to anal play.”

“Just with toys.”

“Better than nothing. Are you ready? I’m going to finger you.”

“Y-yeah, it’s cool. Go ahead.”

Sam spread Gabe’s ass apart with one hand, then carefully put his hand down between his cheeks and lightly dabbed his hole with slick fingers. Gabe tensed up for a second, then relaxed once Sam’s slow, circular movements began to warm up.

“Do you like this?” Sam asked in a whisper. Gabe looked up at him, through the hair hanging down around his face, and just nodded, biting his lower lip. “I’m going to bring one inside now…” Sam watched intently as he deftly inserted one finger, stretching Gabe’s hole just a bit and causing him to gasp.

“Sa-am…”

“Is this good?”

“Mmmm…”

Sam’s thick digit rubbed in and out, prodding as he explored the new territory. Gabe bucked his hips up a couple times in a way that told Sam he was hungry for more, so he delivered. A second finger came inside, stretching him further this time. Gabe rolled his head back into the pillow and moaned long and loud, breathing so heavy and wantonly. Then Sam pulled out and just rubbed the outside of his tender, virgin hole.

“Do you think you’re ready?” Sam asked in a soft voice.

“Yeah.”

“Are you sure?”

“Mmhmm…fuck me, Sam.”

Sam smirked for a second but flipped back to a serious, focused face. He got up enough to unzip his pants and pull them down, exposing his long, hard cock for Gabe to see, and Gabe was quite fascinated by it. “It’s huge!”

“I guess?” Sam asked humbly. He smeared additional lube onto his hand and rubbed it up and down his shaft, making sure to get enough around the head. “Ready?”

“Yeah.”

Gabe had a face of mixed emotions; desperately aroused but also scared and nervous. Sam put his left hand onto Gabe’s hip bone, holding him firm but also with much care. He kept him steady and eased the tip of his dick inside. Gabe’s hole stretched around it and he shouted in pleasure.

“Saaaam!”

His hands clapped onto Sam’s big, smooth biceps and squeezed for dear life. He did his best to relax around him, pushing back with his ass to take more of the dick. Carefully, Sam eased the first inch inside. Gabe’s face was bright red and he gasped hotly. Precum trickled from his own dick.

“Saaam…”

“More?”

“Yeaaah…”

Sam pressed his lips together and pushed more of his cock inside the tight hole. Gabe took it with loud moans, rocking his hips back and forth as he trembled. Then Sam was finally able to release his hand from his dick and put it on Gabe’s shoulder, holding him still. Gabe’s mouth opened as he moaned, panted and yelled, wiggling his tongue about inside while Sam gave him inch after inch.

“Saaam!!!” Gabe’s continuous moans beckoned.

“Gabe…ohh, Gabe…”

Through tight breaths, Sam managed to pin Gabe down and kiss him hotly. His body worked fluidly, rocking into the ass with tenderness but also a firm desire. Gabe did his best to wrap his arms around Sam’s large chest and hold onto him, then Sam broke the kiss and nuzzled into the crook of his neck.

“I won’t hold anything against you,” Sam said as he panted, thrusting in and out slowly. “Never.”

“O-okay,” Gabe replied in a breathy moan. “Th-thanks, big guy.”

“Mmmhh…how does it feel?”

“Goo-ood…”

“Do you think you—aaahhh! Haaa!!”

Before Sam could finish, Gabe’s hole tightened up around him and he felt his cock throb hard. He sat up and began to pound into him harder, just for a moment, driving his dick with a sudden need. Gabe’s eyes opened wide and his mouth hung open, riding back into the pillow as Sam slammed him.

“Shit!” Sam yelled. He squeezed Gabe’s waist and shoulder as he felt his imminent orgasm approach. His cock pulsated intensely and he delivered one great, strong thrust that brought his entire length deep within Gabe. “Aaah!!”

Gabe closed his eyes tight and locked up, convulsing wickedly as Sam’s cock alone managed to rub an orgasm out of him. His cock spewed forth a hefty loud, slicking back over his chest with great energy. “Naah! Sa-am!”

“Holy shit,” Sam gasped. His body was hot and pulsating hard from his orgasm, but through the fog of ecstasy he stared down at Gabe with wide eyes. “Did you cum?”

“Y-yeah,” Gabe gasped. “That happens.”

“But…wi…without hands? That’s amazing.”

“Prostate stuff.”

“I guess I never thought about it.” Sam chuckled. Gabe smiled. They wrapped their arms around each other better and Sam leaned down to kiss him again. “Was that good?”

“Mmm…yeah…” Gabe smiled a lot now and nuzzled up into Sam’s neck. “Sorry for being a dick.”

“About what?”

“Not telling you and stuff.”

“You don’t have to apologize.”

“Okay…”

“No, really. It’s fine. I understand. It just surprised me.”

“Why’s that?”

“Well, you’re so funny and talkative, flirty and whatnot that I assumed you have a lot of experience.”

“Nope. A boyfriend in high school but we barely fooled around. That’s when my parents found out and it all went to shit.”

“I see.”

“Um. Sam?”

“Yes?”

“You aren’t gonna kick me out now, are you?”

“No, why would I?”

“I dunno. ‘Cause I wanna sit and cuddle with you.”

“I want to, too.”

Sam sat up and eased himself out of Gabe, trailing his cum out onto the bed, but he didn’t care. It was so nice to be with someone, and not just someone but someone special. Gabe was special. Sam laid on his side and held Gabe against him. They kissed a little bit here and there as they ranted about things. Mostly Gabe just ran his stream of conscious. Sam liked it. He liked hearing Gabe talk.


	11. Sort of like Seven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The book sale brings a fresh face to the diner. Sam and Gabe debate telling Dean about their relationship, while Dean struggles with the diner's fate.

 “Alright, I’m going to put the history books here…and science over here. There are a lot of science books for some reason.”

Sam explained to Gabe how the books for the sale were being organized outside of the diner. They had brought a bunch of collapsible shelves from home and set them up in the empty spaces out front.

“Okay,” Gabe said, nodding but not really paying attention. They were still keeping quiet about their apparently relationship, which bothered Sam a little but Gabe was real worried about prejudice or losing his job. Sam respected that, but for how long? Harboring secrets never leads to good things.

“You know, you don’t _have_ to help me,” said Sam.

“But I wanna.” Gabe insisted. Sam looked at him and smiled.

“Well then that’s fine. So anyway, these are all fiction. I’ve divided them somewhat but not a whole lot; general fiction, romance, sci-fi/fantasy.”

“Cool, cool.”

Gabe bent down and picked up a couple books then started placing them on the appropriate shelf. Sam kept doing the same. They didn’t talk much as they worked, since they needed to be paying attention to what they were doing, but after a while they were approached by someone who broke the silence.

“Um. Is this open?” a female voice asked.

“I guess it doesn’t really open or close,” said Sam. He turned around, straightened up and saw a young woman with red hair standing behind them.

“Oh, okay, cool. So uh, what is it, exactly?”

“We’re selling books,” Sam explained. Gabe was still shelving them. “$2 each unless it’s real big, then it’s $4.”

“Gotcha, but ummm,” she smiled nervously. “Why are you selling them? If you don’t mind me asking. Seems like a strange place to just decide to have a book sale.”

“It’s for the diner,” said Sam. “Just a second.”

He went inside briefly to grab one of their explanatory flyers. He handed it to the woman and she read it over.

“Ohhhh,” she said. “That’s terrible. Why would they do that?”

“I don’t know. Big business. We’re really at their mercy and it’s _horrible_.”

“Okay, well then I’ll have to buy some of your books. And that’s fine. I have eaten here and I like it, plus it’s always sad when someone’s dream has to die, don’t you think?”

“Oh, yeah, believe me, I know,” Sam said with a sigh. Gabe looked over at him and frowned.

“This diner is real special to you, isn’t it?” the woman asked.

“It is to my brother,” Sam admitted. “Basically the whole thing was his idea.”

“But you work here, right?”

“Yes.”

“You don’t like it?”

“This is personal, but no, I’m not so crazy about it. I took a year off from school to help out, but I’ve overstayed and I’m just getting tired of it now.”

The woman began to look over the shelves as Sam spoke, every now and then pulling a book out to read the back. She kept a couple in her arm but replaced the greater majority. “Does he know? Your brother, I mean.”

“Of course he knows, but he doesn’t care. This diner is basically his child and he’s _obsessed_.”

“Ohh,” she said. “I see.”

“No, no he’s really obsessed!” Gabe randomly chimed in. “It _is_ his child!”

The woman laughed shyly. “You two are funny.”

“I guess so?”

“I’m Charlie, by the way.”

“Nice to meet you, Charlie. I’m Sam and that’s Gabe. My brother inside is Dean, and his husband in the kitchen is Cas.”

“So this is a family affair?” Charlie asked.

“You could say that.”

“That’s sort of cute that he runs it with his husband. So it really is like his child.”

Sam nodded and hummed a little, visibly sickened at the thought of Dean’s obsession.

“Do you have any more family?” asked Charlie.

“No. Well, not that we know of. Once upon a time our dad existed, but he’s so far out of the picture I couldn’t tell you anything about him.”

“That’s so sad!” Charlie gasped. “So, so then the diner is your last scrap of keeping the family together.”

“Y-yes, you could say that…” Sam’s voice trailed off. As Charlie stared up at him, mouth turned into a sad frown, he couldn’t help but feel bad. A second that felt like minutes was spent like that, staring at her and considering what she said. But she perked up and held out the books to Sam.

“I’d like to buy these,” she said.

“Oh, right,” Sam snapped out of his thoughts. “That’s uhhhhh--$12.”

“Easy. And a good bargain, too.”

Charlie smiled real big as she took out her wallet and handed Sam some bills.

“Do you want a bag? We have them.”

“Nope, I’m fine. Thank you, though. I’ll tell my friends to come and buy books, too,” Charlie grinned.

“That would be awesome. The more, the better.”

Then Charlie’s expression drooped as her eyes darted side to side. “Now um, I just need to find some friends.” She laughed nervously and started to walk away. “Bye, guys!”

“Bye, Charlie.”

Once she had disappeared around the block, Gabe leaned into Sam and whispered, “I think she liked you.”

“What? How do you figure?”

“’Cause why not? You aren’t obviously queer.”

“I don’t consider myself entirely queer.”

“Then what?” Gabe asked, folding his arms and looking somewhere between serious and teasing.

“I don’t know,” Sam said quite as a matter of factly. “I never put much thought into it.”

“Hmmmm,” Gabe hummed. He took a few steps to the side and kicked loose gravel on the ground. His voice grew low. “But you like dudes, right?”

“I like you,” said Sam.

“And you really do, right?”

“Yes. I really do.”

“But you aren’t gay?”

“Well, to be gay I would have to _not_ like women, right? And I like women. I’ve dated them, I find them attractive, I enjoy sex with them. But I also find you attractive and enjoy sex with you.”

“Okay.”

Gabe looked a little glum.

“I don’t think it does any good to get hung up on these little things. Right now, you’re the only person I’m interested in.”

“Okay,” Gabe said, this time sounding a little happier.

“And,” Sam added, putting his hands on his hips but still speaking quietly. “I think we should tell Dean soon.”

“What? Why?” Gabe reacted as if Sam said something horrible. His eyes widened.

“Because it’s not doing any good to hide.”

“But—but what do you think Dean’ll do when he finds out?”

“He’ll probably be cool with it. Um. I’m pretty sure he will. How can he hold it against us? He’s gay and works with his partner. You know, the more I think about it the more I’m certain he’ll be fine.”

Uneasily, Gabe folded his arms and frowned. “I guess,” he muttered.

“Then we can think a little longer. How’s that? No decision today, just consideration.”

“Okay.”

* * *

“$1,092.”

By the end of the week, the totals from the book sale were added together and Cas marked a new line on his thermometer chart. “$1,092.”

“That’s awesome, baby,” Dean said. He snuck up behind Cas and put his arms around him. The diner was closed for the evening and Sam had already gone home. Cas put the red marker aside and leaned back into Dean’s embrace, closing his eyes. It was so nice and quiet in the main dining area. “You ready for tomorrow?”

“Well that depends,” Cas said in a throaty whisper. “Am I allowed to know what the plan is?”

“Not yet.”

“Then I can’t say if I’m ready or not.”

“Clever,” Dean said with a smirk. He pressed his lips against Cas’ neck. “Babe? Can I ask you something?”

“Of course.”

“You think I’m being hard on Sam?”

Cas couldn’t help but giggle. “Hard on?”

Dean laughed. “Yeah, yeah. I know I’m being _hard on_ you,” he said, bucking his hips against Cas’ rear. “But seriously. Am I?”

“Hmmm…we’ve talked about this before. I think you should consider everything.”

“Like what?”

“For instance, Sam wants to go back to school but we also need him here. He isn’t entitled to stay, but we _are_ his last bit of family. I think that’s worth something. But if he truly feels inclined to head off to school again, we can’t stop him.”

“I know that, I know that. You’ve said that a million times.”

“To be perfectly honest, you have been rather bitchy.”

“Yeah, I thought so,” Dean said with a sigh. He smoothed his hands across Cas’ chest, feeling the soft fabric of his shirt but looking sad. “I feel bad for him, but seeing this diner fail just tears my heart out. It’s like…it’s like as long as the diner is running, my mom is still alive.”

“Oh, Dean…”

Cas turned around within his arms and hugged him real tight. They embraced in the dark restaurant, holding onto each other for a while in silence. Dean was doing everything he could to hold back tears. “I just want to feel like we’re still a family,” he said, stiff with restraint. “I don’t want Sammy to leave ‘cause then I’ve only got you, and two people aren’t a family.”

“Dean…”

“I know, it’s stupid.”

“It’s not stupid, deerheart.”

“No, no, it’s stupid. I should just let it all go to hell. We aren’t gonna raise enough money anyway.”

“Dean…”

He let off of Cas and sulked away. “It was a stupid dream.”

“Dean!”

Cas got mad. He grabbed his husband by the arm and pulled him back. With a bitter frown, he glared at Dean and loudly said, “Stop feeling sorry for yourself! I’m not going to tolerate it. If keeping the diner is what makes you happy, we _will_ raise the money and we _will_ keep it. And if you think two people doesn’t make a family, then we _will_ keep Sam and we _will_ be happy. Just don’t be such a fucking _asshole_ about it!”

Dean cleared his throat. He looked surprised. It took a lot for Cas to raise his voice like that. “A-alright,” he said softly, patting Cas’ gripped hand on his arm. “Okay. Then, alright. Yeah.”

“You’re my Dean and I love you, but sometimes you are such a fuck-hat. Now kiss me.” Cas closed his eyes and pursed his lips. Dean laughed. He pressed his lips to Cas’ and smiled, then tousled his smooth, dark hair.

“Thanks, babe,” Dean said with a tight smile. “You know how to straighten me up. So are you ready for tomorrow now?”

Cas was all smiles again. That boyish, innocent glow came back to his beautiful eyes and he nodded. “Yes, I think so.”


	12. Wait what the hell?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sam helps Dean pull of the best anniversary plan he can think of, which goes great until a drunk Cas says too much.

 The diner opened on Sunday as usual, welcoming in the early birds for their breakfasts and brunches, but there was planning afoot. Much to Sam’s disappointment, Dean called Gabe up and told him not to come in.

“Why?” Sam asked after Dean hung up the diner’s phone.

“’Cause we’re gonna close early.”

“Can we afford that?”

“Can I afford no anniversary? C’mon, Sammy.”

“Ahh, right, right.”

“But listen,” Dean leaned over the counter and gestured for Sam to get close. Whispering, he said “Can you do me a favor?”

“Sure. What?”

“After we close and we get home, could you uh, like, distract Cas for a little bit? Maybe 10, 15 minutes?”

“I can do that.”

“But you _can’t_ tell him I’m setting something up, okay?”

“Alright.”

“Then once I’m ready, you need to leave the house.”

“What? For how long?”

“Couple hours.”

“Sheesh. Seriously?”

“Yeah.” Dean cleared his throat. “…please?”

Sam laughed. “Okay, that’s fine. No problem.”

“Thanks, Sammy.”

The next few hours played out fine. Around 8 in the evening, Dean went into the back and brought out a sign Cas had been working on. **SORRY BUT WE HAVE CLOSED,** then in small script _because of our anniversary_. Dean taped it to the window and waited for all of the patrons to leave, then they cleaned up and went home. It was hard to tell if Cas actually knew Dean was planning something or not.

When they made it back, Dean went upstairs after announcing he was going to take a shower. Cas tried to follow but Sam flagged him down. “Hey uh, Cas?”

“Mmmm?”

“Would you like to um…have some tea with me?”

“That sounds nice, actually.”

Cas smiled warmly and followed Sam into the kitchen, where the Winchester turned the kettle on. Cas took a seat at the table folded his hands in his lap. “I don’t talk to you enough these days, Sam. How are you?”

“Working, I guess. But you know that. Did you get anything for Dean?”

“No,” Cas said with a sad frown. “I thought and thought about it, but I just couldn’t come up with anything. Now I know Dean probably has plans, so I don’t want to take too long with you.”

“Oh, oh, it’s fine,” Sam said quickly. He took two mugs down from the cabinet and bunged teabags into them, thinking as fast as he could to help stall. “Um. See, I have to talk to you about something important.”

“You do?” Cas asked. He looked worried all of the sudden. “Is everything alright?”

“Yes, but I need your advice.”

“What is it?”

The kettle began to blow and Sam turned it off. He poured water over the teabags then brought them over to the table as Cas watched, looking concerned. “Thank you,” he said softly when he took his tea from Sam. “So what do you want to tell me?”

“Alright, well, I have this little issue. I want to talk to Dean about it, but I’m not sure how he’ll react. Can I trust you not to tell him?”

“It depends what it is. I can’t withhold anything that could be dangerous to him.”

“No, no, not like that.” Sam cleared his throat. “It’s about Gabe.”

“Oh? What? What did he do?” Cas took a thin sip of hot tea and wet his lips, shifting in his chair just a bit. Sam hesitated.

“I’m—kind of---dating him.”

“You are?” Cas verified, widening his eyes. “That’s a surprise. But, Sam; why are you afraid to tell Dean?”

“Because we all work together.”

Cas ran his index finger around the rim of his mug, watching it. “So?”

“I don’t know. Dean’s been weird lately. I don’t want to push it.”

“You wouldn’t. Don’t worry. Would you like me to tell him?”

“No!” Sam shouted. “Ah, sorry! Just don’t, okay?”

“I won’t. But you should, and soon. There’s no reason to be worried. Now is that all?”

“Y-yeah.”

Cas finished off his tea and took his mug to the sink. “Now if you don’t mind, I’m going to see what Dean is up to. He can’t possibly still be showering.”

“Alright,” Sam said in a tiny voice. He stared into his tea, not at all touched, and wondered if he did the right thing.

Upstairs, Cas opened their bedroom door slowly to find that the lights were all off, but a warm glow still resonated. Each nightstand, dresser and sort of surface that could support them was covered in different sized candles; they were mostly tiny but some were quiet large. The bathroom door was propped open and running water could be heard, drowning out the faint notes of _I’m In Love Again_ over the mp3 player dock. Cas, wide eyed, stepped into the room slowly and closed the door behind him. Dean was nowhere to be seen, but he could infer that he was in the bathroom. As his feet carried him that way, more candles were illuminating within, and there was Dean sitting on the side of the tub, nearly filled to the brim with bubbles. He was wearing just his robe, but it was open and hung casually at his sides. When Cas came in, he looked at him with a big smile. “Hey, baby.”

“Dean,” Cas inhaled, blushing.

“I wanted to do something special, but with the diner having all those problems, I just can’t afford it. Sorry.”

“Oh, Dean…” Candlelight flickered in Cas’ shining eyes. He began to undress and Dean shut off the tap. The music was easier to hear and Cas hummed with it slightly.

“I know how you like April Stevens.”

“Yes,” Cas agreed. His briefs dropped to the ground and stepped out of everything. Dean got up and peeled his robe off.

“Wanna get in?”

“Of course.”

Cas smiled shyly as he stepped over the side of the tub and slid into the hot water. He gasped lightly from the heat as he lowered himself down. “Ahhh…” The foaming bath surrounded him. “Dean?”

“Just a sec,” said Dean. “I managed to drop a little bit of cash on something special.”

“Oh?” Cas cocked his head curiously, rubbing the bubbles over his skin.

Dean stepped out of the bathroom but returned right away with a bottle of something. Then Cas noticed there were two glasses set on the sink.

“What did you get?”

“Some bubbly for you,” Dean said with a smirk. “And look, even _I’m_ gonna have some.”

“That’s sweet.”

Dean uncorked it with a sharp _pop_ and immediately filled the two glasses. Light, foaming wine glittered in the candlelight as he carried on over to Cas, then held onto his and also lowered into the water. “Ooo,” he hissed as the heat nipped at him. “That’s hot.”

Cas took a sip of the sparkling wine and giggled a little. One side of his mouth turned up into a smile and he looked at Dean, blushing. “You know I’m out of practice.”

“With what?” Dean asked, settling against the back of the tub with the glass casually propped in his hand.

“Drinking.”

“I know. I don’t mind.” He took a big swig of it and tried to suppress a belch.

“Mmmm,” Cas hummed, sipping more. He rubbed his feet along Dean’s legs beneath the water and smiled. “Thank you, Dean.”

“Don’t thank me, baby. You deserve it. You deserve all of it.”

“I suppose so. But, ah, Dean…I feel terrible because I didn’t get you anything.”

“What about the card this morning?”

“Well, yes; but that’s so simple, anybody could get a card.”

“Yeah, yeah, but I can’t get a card from _you_ except from _you_.”

“That’s true.”

Dean leaned back a little more and smiled, looking proud. “Three years, baby,” he sighed happily.

“It’s hard to believe.” Cas finished up his glass and smacked his lips together. His face had grown quite red now and his eyes were wide and shiny. Dean looked at him and smiled. “You like it?”

“Yeaaah,” Cas sighed, grinning like a goofball.

“Want a little more?”

“Mmhmm.”

Dean scooped up the bottle and refilled Cas’ glass. He immediately drank about half of it and looked absolutely delighted.

“Look at you, baby,” Dean said with a chuckle. “Feel good?”

“Yeaaaah.” Cas kept batting at Dean with his feet, stretching his back and wriggling about cutely. “It’s very tasty.”

“Good, good.”

Dean continued to nurse his drink as Cas guzzled his. One more glassful and Cas was getting pretty tipsy. Water was sloshing around and running down the outer sides of the tub now.

“Hey, Cas, maybe we should get out now? You’re making a mess.”

“Ohh, goodness, I’m sorry,” Cas apologized, shifting his head from side to side.

“It’s fine, babe. Come on.”

Dean put his glass on the floor and pulled the plug, watching Cas with a cheeky grin. He stood up and helped Cas get out of the tub, wobbling around from his growing drunkenness.

“You feel alright?” Dean asked. Cas flopped into Dean’s arms, all wet and giggly.

“Yeaaah,” he hummed, looking up at Dean. “I ought to build my tolerance up more.”

“But you’re so fuckin’ cute like this.”

“Haha…yeah?”

“Yeah.”

Dean snatched a towel from the rack behind him and pat Cas dry. He dried himself then put the towels aside. Cas hobbled off into the bedroom and flopped onto his stomach. “Dee-eaann,” he sang, spreading his legs and wiggling his butt. Dean blew out the candles in the bathroom and zoomed to Cas’ side.

“Well hey, baby,” Dean said cutely. “You’re drunk.”

“Only a little bit,” Cas chuckled. He pawed at Dean’s arm. “What else do you want to do?”

“Alright, so I figured since you gave me such an awesome massage the other day, that I should give you one now.”

“Ummm, if you want to.”

“I do. I do want to.”

Dean sat on his knees and slid open the nightstand, took a bottle of massage oil out and drizzled it over Cas’ back, causing him to twinge a bit and moan. “Like that, babe?”

“Mmm…Dean…”

Cas stretched his arms out wide in front and rocked side to side beneath Dean’s hands. His greasy palms rubbed slow, slick circles across Cas’ muscular back, thumbing the shoulder blades and teasing down his spine. Cas let out a few soft moans.

“You look beautiful, Cas.”

“Thank you, Dean.”

A big grin went across Cas’ face and he closed his eyes, humming along with the sultry music and shifting side to side beneath Dean’s massaging fingers. Dean had to lean down and kiss into Cas’ neck, smiling while pressing his lips firmly. “Baby,” he whispered, his hand running through the oil and down to his lower back, slipping between his cheeks and lightly touching his rim.

“Ohhh,” Cas inhaled. “Ohh, Dean…”

“You like this?” Dean continued to whisper, circling his hole now.

“Mmm…Dean…yeaaah…”

His index finger dipped inside lightly and Cas moaned louder. His face turned visibly red, even through the shadows of candlelight. “Want more?”

“Yeaaaah,” Cas moaned. Dean grinned to himself and slid his finger deeper, probing around tenderly in the cavern he knew so well. “Deaaaaan!”

“Want me to fuck you?”

“Please.”

“You don’t need to beg, baby. After all,” he pressed kisses onto Cas’ cheek now, nuzzling him with the tip of his nose. “It’s our anniversary night.”

He rubbed a second finger inside and scissored them apart, causing Cas to groan more and grind his hips against the hand. He kneaded his hands into the sheets as Dean fingered him, tossing his head back and forth in his delirious, delicious drunken stupor.

“Okay, Cas. I’m gonna fuck you now.”

“Okay,” Cas agreed cutely.

“But I want you to turn over. Wanna see that beautiful face.”

“Mmm. Very well.”

As Dean pulled his fingers out, Cas turned over onto his back and held his knees up with his hands and spread them just a bit, showing off his pink hole and throbbing erection. Dean shifted up against him and pinned Cas’ legs down. He looked him over, licking his lips. The music played on.

“You look amazing,” Dean whispered, smiling sweetly. His eyes were fluttering between lust and utter adoration. Cas just giggled.

“Thank you, Dean,” he muttered, letting off one leg and using that hand to run a few fingers down Dean’s rippling torso, through the neatly trimmed hair and around his balls. “Mmm…”

“They’re all swollen with milk for you, baby,” Dean said, smirking. He thrust his erection in Cas’ general direction, grunting a little. Cas thumbed over Dean’s balls with a curious face.

“Alright,” he hummed. “Then give it to me.”

“That’s what I wanna hear,” Dean growled. He held the base of his dick in his hand, rubbing more oil over it before lining it up with Cas’ hole. Slowly, he pressed inside, stretching it with a refined perfection from doing it so many times. Cas gripped at the pillow above his head and moaned loud.

“Deaan! Deaaaan!” His voice grew hoarse with his shouts.

“Let it all out, baby,” Dean grunted as he pushed inside deeper. “Sammy’s gone, so we can be as loud as we want.”

“Naaah! Aaaaah!!” Cas screamed and hollered while Dean made it all the way inside. Then he began to pick up a steady rhythm, slamming into Cas’ ass with great force. Cas wrapped his legs around Dean’s waist and clung to him, shouting and yelling in ecstasy. The candlelit flickered and the soft, old music kept going while they fucked. Messy kisses intermingled with “I love you” and “feels so good” over and over, their bodies rocking in time with one another while smearing sweat and oil around together. The intensity grew and grew until neither of them could handle it any longer. Dean grappled Cas’ dripping dick with one hand and pulled it as he slammed into him hard.

“Aaaah!! Caaass!!” He cried out, bursting with cum inside his ass. Cas rocked upwards, blushing so hard and squealing Dean’s name loudly as he, too, reached his orgasm. Their moans and growls filled the room and drowned out the mp3 for a few sweet, intense moments. Then all at once it faded and Dean collapsed onto Cas’ chest, panting.

“Deaaaan,” Cas whimpered. He hugged him and smiled. “So good.”

“Like—haaa—that?”

“Mmmm…”

Dean’s body ached a bit in post-coitus muscle spasms, but he managed to slide out and roll off of him. He turned on his side and watched Cas catch his breath. The slick chest rose and fell, shimmering with different shiny oils in the candlelit.

“You look so beautiful,” Dean whispered. He nuzzled Cas’ arm and kissed him several times there. “Happy anniversary.”

“Dean?” Cas asked, acting sober all of the sudden. He licked his lips and stared up at the ceiling.

“Yeah?”

Cas turned his head and looked at Dean, smiling but somewhat serious. He reached over and put his hand on top of Dean’s.

“What is it, Cas?”

“I want a baby.”

Dean almost choked. “Wh-what?!”

“I want a baby.”

“Cas, you’re drunk,” he said quickly, trying to remain cool.

“I know. And this is the only way I can be honest…I want a baby. I’ve wanted a baby. You’ve said it yourself, that I’d be a good mama.”

“But we can’t just _have_ one.”

“Dean, I know,” Cas started to laugh. “I’m not stupid.” He closed his eyes and turned on his side to face Dean, then hugged him real tight and looked elated. “I want a baby.”

“Um. Babe, let’s uh, let’s just think about this for a while, okay?”

“Mmhhh…” Cas hummed and stroked Dean’s back tenderly. He was quickly falling asleep. Dean hugged back and patted him. He kept stroking until sleep overtook them both, while Cas kept muttering, “I want a baby…”


	13. So cute you could scream

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While Dean and Cas enjoy their anniversary, Sam takes Gabe out on a real date.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I originally messed up the order of these chapters. So sorry about this :( It must have confused the hell out of some of you. this is chapter 13, but it was put as chapter 9.

In accordance to his deal with Dean, Sam left the house as soon as Cas went upstairs. He wasn’t thrilled about being kicked out, but knowing that his brother was having a good time romancing his husband was heartwarming. In a gross way. But heartwarming nonetheless!

Sam went around the side of the house and took his bike away from its usual resting place; up against the siding, a few feet in front of the air conditioner. He was about to hop on with the intention of biking to no particular place, when he realized that Gabe was probably free, so instead he made a phone call.

“Sam?” Gabe answered the phone, sounding quieter than normal.

“Hey, Gabe.”

“What’s up?”

“Well, the diner is closed early so Dean and Cas can have their anniversary, but I’m stuck out of the house.”

Gabe chuckled. “They sexiled you?”

“They what?”

“They sexiled you. Like, kicked you out ‘cause they wanna bang.”

“I guess so,” Sam said, furrowing his brow. “Something like that.”

“That sucks, man. But good for them.”

“Yeah, haha. I was wondering if you wanted to do something?”

“Oh,” Gabe inhaled and paused. “Like um, what?”

“Have you eaten yet?”

“N-no, not really.”

“Would you like to?”

“Uhhh. You mean, you mean like a date?”

“I guess, if that’s what you want to call it.”

“Er. Alright. Cool. Yeah, yeah. We can do that.”

“Great. I’ll scoop you up and we can bike some place local.”

“O-okay.”

“I’ll see you soon.”

“O-okay bye.”

Sam hung up the phone and slipped it back into his pocket with a smile. It had been a while since he had a legitimate “date.” This wasn’t too stressful since he already knew Gabe and they were an item, but arranging something serious was slightly nerve racking.

He biked down to Gabe’s as quickly as he could, but before he had the chance to go up to the little brick house, Gabe bounded out of the door and ran down to the bike. His hair was combed back and his Army green coat flapped as he ran past Sam. “Hurry up, big guy!” he shouted.

“Uh, what?”

Clueless, Sam turned around and slowly dropped down the couple steps to the house and wandered to his bike. “What’s wrong?”

“Just ride,” Gabe said, shaking the bike. “Hurry, hurry.”

“Whatever you say. Hop on.”

Sam got up on the bike and Gabe jumped onto the handlebars as usual. He looked back at Sam as they began to ride on, then at his disappearing house.

“Something happen?” Sam asked.

“Nope. Just can’t have my folks seeing you.”

“Why?”

“Ugh. ‘Cause they don’t like me being gay! They don’t know about you and I don’t want ‘em to.”

“Never?”

“Never!” Gabe snapped, wobbling on the bars as he folded his arms. “They’ll be so pissed and weirded out.”

“Have you ever had a boyfriend?”

“Once, in high school. But that’s when they found out and I wasn’t allowed to see him again.”

Sam curved around a corner and bumped up onto the sidewalk, heading downtown. They passed a couple people.

“Are you afraid they won’t let you see me?” Sam asked, prodding his nose against Gabe’s side.

“Sortaaaa.”

“But you’re an adult now. They can’t stop you.”

“They can kick me out. Or stop paying for my school.”

“Do you even like living there?”

Gabe sighed. “No, I don’t. But I can’t afford to live anywhere else.”

“I can understand that.”

Sam slowed down his pedaling as they approached a long strip of restaurants. Gabe hopped off. “So where do you wanna eat?” he asked, shoving his hands into his pocket and watching Sam as he dismounted and searched for a bike rack.

“It’s up to you,” said Sam. “Especially since I asked you out.”

“Hmmm…”

There was a small, curvy rack between two of the trees planted into the sidewalk. Sam hooked up his bike quickly then started to walk beside Gabe as they sauntered down the strip. They passed a sushi restaurant and Gabe made a sick face. Sam laughed. He pointed out a Thai place next door and Gabe shook his head.

“I don’t want fish food,” he said grouchily.

“Alright. How about…”

They kept walking. Sam looked on both sides of the street for restaurants they could try, but many of them had clothes and electronics stores peppered in between. Gabe, glancing at the storefronts, at one point decided to take one hand from his pocket and hold onto Sam’s arm. He pulled him close and Sam looked at him, smiling. But they said nothing. Sam moved his arm up and instead took Gabe’s hand, squeezing it lightly.

“How about pizza?” Sam offered.

“Okay!”

“Haha, that was easy enough, huh?”

“If it’s bad for me I’ll eat it.”

“That’s terrible.”

“Yeah, I know. But this isn’t a regular day anyway.”

“How so?”

They stepped inside the pizza place and found a table. It was fairly crowded but not enough to drown out a quiet conversation. Luckily there weren’t too many children.

“’Cause I’m on a date!” Gabe boasted. Sam just smiled and nodded.

When the waiter came and handed them their menus, Sam just ordered water and Gabe frowned. He got a soda but it made him feel bad.

“What’s wrong?” Sam asked. They were brought their drinks and Gabe just poked at the ice with his straw, holding his hand up by the elbow.

“How do you stay so hot like that?” Gabe muttered, pursing his lips complacently.

“I work out. Eat right. Why?”

“I dunno.”

Sam laughed real gentle. “Do you think you’re out of shape?”

“I kinda feel like that. When we were naked together, it was like…ugh…this guy is so ripped and hot and I’m so normal looking.”

“No, no, you aren’t normal looking,” Sam said, shaking his head. “You look good. You’re in great shape. Look, all that walking you do? You really look good.”

“But you look _so_ good.”

“It’s just my body type. I carve muscle easy. If you wanted, you could, too; but I like you the way you are now.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

Gabe smiled. “Okay,” he said. “Then…heheh…alright.”

“Hmm?”

He said nothing more. The waiter came back and they ordered a pizza, even though Sam said he usually goes for salads. “Since it isn’t a regular day…”

When it arrived and they started to eat, Gabe perked up a lot. He pulled long gooey strands of cheese off his slice, slinging down onto the plate and making a real mess.

“Jeez, Gabe,” Sam laughed. He, of course, took a more modest approach and used a knife and fork, which of course prompted mocking from Gabe.

“I _am_ the bottom, right?” he chuckled.

“Yes, I think so,” Sam replied, smirking just slightly. “So Gabe, I’ve been wondering. What _are_ you studying in school?”

“I’ve been taking all the necessary basics and stuff for a while, but I’m aiming towards psychology. I really like those classes.”

“Psychology? I’m surprised.”

“Why, ‘cause I’m dumb?”

“No!” Sam shouted. “No, no! Because you don’t seem like the type.”

“Well I guess people can be surprising.” He kept chewing a big bite of hot cheese.

“Do you have long term goals with college?”

“Not really, no. I don’t care. Like I said before, it’s mostly just getting out of my stupid fucking house with my stupid fucking family.”

“Ahh, relax,” Sam cooed. He set his fork down and reached out to take Gabe’s idle hand. Gabe smiled. “They aren’t here now, so we don’t have to even worry about them.”

Gabe’s smile turned upside down and started to look worried. His hand balled up beneath Sam’s and he sighed heavily.

“What is it?” asked Sam.

Quietly, Gabe said, “I just want a safe place to be myself. I’m always hiding.”

“Well,” Sam said, taking some time to think it over. “Maybe it’s time to tell Dean? I really don’t think he’d be mad. And once he knows, you can come to our house more. And you don’t have to keep it a secret. You can just be yourself with me.”

A little happier, Gabe nodded. Three pizza crusts sat on his plate and he stared at them, biting his lower lip as gears were absolutely in motion. “O-okay,” he hesitated. “We’ll tell Dean.”

Sam paid the tab and they went on their way, headed towards the bike. They held hands.

“You deserve to be happy,” said Sam.

“I guess.”

“Don’t guess, know. You’re cute, you’re smart…sensitive but honest.”

“I _guess_.”

Just before they reached Sam’s bike, he stopped them short and turned Gabe to face him. He cupped his face in his big hands and stared down at him, half sad half stern. “No. Stop guessing, alright?”

Gabe shook his head, meeting Sam’s gaze with big eyes, glittering in the streetlamps.

“You’re an amazing young guy,” Sam continued, thumbing over Gabe’s cheeks. “I really care about you, and I want you to be happy.”

Before Gabe could answer, if he even had an answer, Sam closed his eyes and leaned down to kiss him. Gabe’s arms instinctively wrapped around him and they embraced, kissing tenderly as people wandered around them. The kiss broke and Sam rubbed his nose against Gabe’s, eyes half open and his voice merely a throaty whisper. “I want to sleep with you,” Sam muttered. “Not sex, just sleep. I want to put my arms around you and lay in bed all night. And I want to hear you dream against me. I want to wake up to see your hair a mess.”

Gabe wasn’t sure how to respond. He blushed and blushed, avoiding eye contact with his shyly. He wet his lips and whispered, “okay, Sammich.”

“Sammich?” Sam’s voice was louder now and he backed away from the kiss more. He laughed. “Where’d that come from?”

“’Cause you’re Sam and you’re a waiter. Like, sandwich. I dunno. Do you like it?”

“Yeah, it’s cute. I do. Thank you.”

He let his hands off of Gabe’s face and hugged him once more, briefly, followed by a kiss on his temple. “Are you ready to go home?”

“No. But I think it’s time. So, yeah.”

“Then I’ll drop you off. But secretly.”

“Uh huh. Thanks.”

Sam smiled at Gabe as he walked to his bike, unchaining it and plopping into the seat. “Ready for you.” Gabe nodded and got onto the handlebars, wiggling a bit. They kissed once more before setting off into the night.


	14. I need help, Sammy!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dean can't decide what he should do about Cas' desire to start a family, but his stress is wrecking Sam's plans for outing.

 “Sam. Sam! _Sammy!!”_

In the morning, very early before Cas was up, Dean had slipped out of bed and tiptoed over to his brother’s door. He knocked on it and whispered loudly.

“What?” Sam asked, opening it and showing a very groggy face. Dean was grimacing with his eyes wide open. “Dean? What’s wrong?”

“ _Cas wants to have a baby!_ ” He hissed, looking terrified.

“Okay. So?”

“I’m not ready for a baby!”

“Then don’t have one.”

“I can’t just tell him that!”

“Why not? It’s not like you can knock him up or anything.”

“I know, I know, but still! What do I say!?”

Sam yawned. “Do we really have to be discussing this now? I can still get another 40 minutes if I’m lucky.”

“Sammy! Sammy, no!” Dean was acting unusually desperate. “I dunno what to tell him!”

“Tell him what you told me.”

“But it’ll break his fragile little heart…”

“Then _do_ have a baby? I don’t know, Dean. Can we talk this over later? At work maybe?”

“But Cas is at work!”

Sam sighed real loud. “Ask someone who _has_ a kid. I don’t know. I’m just your little brother, how can I help?”

Dean ground his teeth together for a moment as Sam just stared at him. “I dunno what to DO!!” Dean hissed again.

“Dean. Please.”

“I’ve spent my whole life taking care of you, can you help me out this one time?”

“You’ve said that sooo many times. I’m going back to bed.”

“Sammy, Sammy!” Dean shouted as his brother closed the door. “SAMMY! Damn it.”

He made enough noise that it must have woken Cas up, so when Dean turned around, sad and defeated, he saw his husband starting at him. Cas was in the threshold of their bedroom, his thin robe thrown on casually, arms folded.

“Dean?”

“Sorry, babe, I wasn’t trying to wake you.”

“I woke up when you got out of bed,” Cas said quietly. He looked down and pressed his lips together.

“Oh,” Dean muttered. “So uh, uh did you…I guess you heard me talking to Sam?”

“Yes.”

“Ohh. God, babe, I don’t—“

“Dean, it’s fine,” Cas said in a soft tone, indistinguishable with its intention. “If you aren’t ready, then we aren’t ready.”

“Cas, I—“

Cas walked by Dean and squeezed his arm. “It’s fine. Now let’s go start our day.”

‘No, baby, wait,” Dean said, but Cas just kept pressing on and went downstairs. He followed him, still asking, “are you mad? Cas?”

“I said it’s fine,” Cas repeated. They went into the silent kitchen and Cas stepped up to the coffee pot. As he filled it, his eyes remained on his hands. “I was slightly intoxicated last night and it slipped out. I never should have said anything.”

Cautiously, Dean approached his husband from behind and laid his hands on his shoulders. Cas relaxed into the touch. “Babe,” Dean whispered. “How long you wanted a kid?”

“I don’t know,” Cas hummed. He clicked on the coffee pot then leaned his head back, wanting more affection. “I thought that, perhaps if we can’t hold onto your family, then we can make our own?”

Dean exhaled slowly and wrapped his arms around Cas’ shoulders, hugging him tight and dipping in to his cheek for kisses. “We’ll have a family one day,” he whispered. “Just not yet, okay?”

“Okay,” Cas agreed, nodding softly. He turned back to Dean and kissed him.

“Too bad I can’t just pump you full and let the big guy upstairs decide, huh?”

“I wish,” Cas sighed. “But then you wouldn’t want to be with me.”

“Hey, don’t say that,” Dean hummed. His lips pressed onto Cas’ cheek and neck area, again and again as he breathed slowly.

“I mean, if you could impregnate me then I would be female.”

“Mmmm,” was Dean’s soft agreement while his hands ran along the lining of Cas’ robe, pushing it apart so he could smooth his hands across the firm, muscular tummy. “Just think if you were still you but I could knock ya up.”

“Now, Dean, that’s just silly.” Cas couldn’t help but laugh at his husband’s remark. The coffee nearly finished and he got two mugs out of the cabinet above. Dean’s hands kept rubbing his flesh.

“Yeah, I know,” Dean said with a smirk. He made circles over Cas’ abs, his face growing happier and happier. “You’d be all big and full of our baby. Something we made together…mmm…”

“I thought you didn’t _want_ a baby?” Cas asked.

“I do, I do. Just not now. Not right now.”

“Right…”

Cas’ voice trailed off sadly. The coffee maker pressed out its last few drops.

“Please don’t be sad, Cas,” Dean whispered. “I’ll give you everything you want, alright? Someday.”

“I know.”

* * *

“’Course the day I wanna talk to Bobby, he isn’t here!” Dean leaned over the counter top as he wiped up where a customer had been. Sam had sat down on a stool for a moment.

“Why do you want to talk to Bobby?”

“Advice on…you know…”

Sam sighed. “Is it so complicated?”

“ _Yes_ , Sammy, _yes_.” Dean wet his lips as he snatched the rag away and disappeared into the kitchen. The moment Dean was gone, Gabe came running from the other side of the diner and sat down beside Sam. He urgently leaned into him and whispered loudly. “Did you tell him?!”

“No,” Sam answered, trying to sound as calm as possible. Gabe frowned. “He’s preoccupied with something else right now. I don’t want to throw him off too badly.”

“MMMM but we agreed!”

“I thought you didn’t want to tell him?”

“I don’t! But, but I know we gotta, and it’ll be good, I think!”

Sam smiled. “I’m glad you realized. I’ll tell him as soon as this chaos blows over.”

“So what’s the problem?” Gabe asked, cocking his head.

“Well, alright,” Sam began. He got up because one of the tables appeared to be finished. As he picked up their empty dishes, Gabe followed him. “Apparently Cas wants a baby.”

Gabe’s eyes widened. “Whaa…really?”

“That’s what he said,” Sam said with a nod. “But hush about it. Dean ‘s really freaking out.”

Gabe mimed a zipper across his lips as he continued to follow Sam around. They went into the kitchen and dropped off dishes, meanwhile Cas was standing over the grill with Dean behind him. They whispered to each other and Sam prodded Gabe along to give them more privacy.

“You know how much I love you,” Dean muttered as he nuzzled into the crook of Cas’ neck.

“Ohhh. Ohhh Dean, I do know.”

“You’re so beautiful, baby.”

“Thank you.”

“Mmm…”

The back of Dean’s fingers moved along Cas’ apron, smoothing the edges all the way to his hips, where Dean slipped under it and rubbed over his stomach. “Cas…”

“What is it?” Cas asked in a hushed voice. He turned a burger on the fryer.

“I love you.”

Cas smiled. “Yes, Dean. You’ve just said that.”

Dean continued to nuzzle and kiss at him while he plated the next meal. Then he turned around and handed it to Dean.

“Darling? Take this out for them? Medium with no onions.”

“Right, right,” Dean said. He took the plate from Cas and smiled before going out. “Medium with no onions?” He asked Sam, holding the burger out.

“Thanks.”

The younger Winchester rushed by quickly and took it right out of Dean’s hands. He went on to a table and handed it to a young woman, who began chatting him up. Dean shrugged it off and took his usual space behind the register. Then a familiar British accent caught his attention. “Have you any peach pie, mate?”

“Peach?” Dean asked. “Don’t think so. Sorry.”

“Oh, pity,” he said with a sigh. “Apple?”

Dean flashed a smile. “Always got apple.”

“Could you bring me one, please? Thanks much.”

“Sure.” Dean nodded and turned around to the kitchen. “Babe? Slice of apple pie?”

“Yes, Dean.”

He quickly plated a fat slice and handed it to Dean. “Thanks, babe.”

“Of course.”

Dean returned and gave the pie to the customer, then gave him a bundle of silverware. “Here ya go.”

“Cheers,” said the customer. “So when is the big pie bake?”

“Uhh, not sure yet.”

The British man unrolled his napkin and placed it into his lap, taking the fork and eating a small corner of the pie. “You will do it, won’t you?”

“Yeah, Cas would love to do it. And we need the money. Way bad.”

“Close to your goal?”

“No, not at all. It sucks.”

“Sorry to hear that. Anything I can do to help?”

Dean shook his head. He folded his arms and pressed his lips together. “I’m not sure how well it’s all gonna work out.”

“With an attitude like that, you won’t see many good results.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well,” the British man continued, smirking slightly after dabbing his mouth with a second napkin he took from a dispenser. “Telling yourself it won’t work seems to be setting the stage for failure. Wouldn’t you agree?”

“Yeah, I guess so,” Dean said with a sigh. He stared at the counter top for a moment.

“But it’s not just the diner’s fate bothering you, is it?”

Dean quickly looked up and stared at the customer. “Huh?”

“I see it in your eyes. Trouble with the missus?”

“No. I mean, it ain’t your business.”

“Ohh, now that hurt my feelings!” The man teased. “And here I am, donating to your worthy cause, only to be trash talked by the owner. That isn’t very nice.”

Dean sighed very, very loudly. Though he looked annoyed, he clapped both palms onto the counter and leaned across to the man. His voice was quiet. “This is way personal, but…but my husband wants a baby.”

“Good for you, then,” the customer said.

“I don’t want one.”

“And why not?”

“I’m not ready.

“Oh, I’ve heard that before. At what point is _anybody_ ready?”

“When we aren’t about to lose our damned restaurant? When we actually know someone who can have the baby for us? If you haven’t noticed, Cas isn’t—“

“Blah, blah, blah,” the man interrupted loudly. “Again, I’ve heard that before. _When we have more money, when we get a new place_. But oh, no, you’re two _men_ so it has to be perfect, doesn’t it?”

“Hey, I didn’t ask you to sass me.”

“I’m not sassing, just trying to help. Seems you’re in a pickle and I’m willing to give you any advice I’ve got.”

“Okay,” Dean said, wetting his lips and leaning in just a bit closer. “What should I do? How do I magically feel comfortable having a baby, and how do I magically come up with one?”

“There are ways,” the customer said, finishing the pie and setting the dishes aside. “It’s quite possible. I’m sure you’ll figure it out.”

“That’s not helpful at all!” Dean sneered. “Just cryptic bullshit.”

“Is it, now? Believe me, if something is supposed to happen, the puzzle pieces will fall into place.”

“I guess.”

The British man took a 10 out of his wallet and slid it over the counter to Dean. “I wouldn’t worry about it,” he said. “And put me down for a peach once that pie sale goes.”

Dean cleared his throat as he took the note. “Sure,” he said quickly. “What name?”

“Crowley.”

Crowley, evidently, got up from his stool, straightened his suit jacket and went for the door. He caught Cas’ eyes through the kitchen window before leaving and waved cutely saying, “Thanks, love” as he walked out.


	15. Time to tell Dean

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The secret is out! How will Dean react? It doesn't much matter though, since he needs to focus on cheering up Cas and getting the pie sale ready!

 One night after work, Cas was laying on the bed with a notebook in front of him. Dressed in a silky white nighty and a pen in hand, he rapped against the paper deep in thought. A stark naked Dean sat down next to him and touched his arm. “Whatcha workin’ on, baby?”

“The pie bake,” Cas said quietly.

“What’s there to plan?”

“Many things. I need to figure out how many ingredients I should buy in advance, and how many pies I can bake in a day. Or overnight.”

“Overnight?” Dean asked with a frown. “You aren’t gonna bake all night, are you?”

“It depends how many orders we get.”

“Babe…”

“What?” Cas looked up and saw Dean’s sad face.

“You can’t work all day and all night.”

“We need the money, love.”

Dean’s fingers ran along Cas’ bicep and to his shoulder blade, softly stroking the thing strap holding his nighty up. “Not that bad. You need sleep.”

Cas shook his head softly. “We really, really need the money.”

“Baby, no…”

As Cas set his pen down and pushed the pad aside, Dean lay down alongside him. Cas sighed indifferently and turned on his side, putting his back to Dean.

“Baby…”

Dean’s hand smoothed down Cas’ other arm now, first rubbing then slipping beneath to touch the soft white fabric of the nighty. His mouth moved in to Cas’ neck and pressed a series of tiny, loving kisses into the stubble.

“Baby…”

Suddenly Cas whipped his head around and glared at Dean. “Stop saying _baby!_ ” he yelled. Dean moved back and stared wide-eyed, thrown off by Cas’ weird behavior. They froze like that for a moment.

“C-Cas…”

“What?!”

Cas’ lower lip warbled and he turned back into the bed. He pulled the pillow down to his face and buried himself into it. Dean moved his hand away.

“Cas, what just happened to you?” Dean tried his best to be comforting. The messy dark hair on Cas’ head quivered. He began to cry. “Cas…”

Sniffling, Cas spoke into the pillow. “I-I want to be alone for a few minutes…”

“What? Cas, why?”

“I-I just want to…please…D-Dean…”

Dean didn’t know what to do. Cas rarely had meltdowns like that, and the few times that he did, he was always left sitting there like a lump on a log. If he did as Cas said, he’d feel shitty for bailing; but if he stayed there, Cas would just get angrier.

“You want me to leave the room for a bit?”

“Y-yes…”

“Sure?”

“P-please.”

He decided quickly, kissed Cas on the arm then got up and put on his robe. “I love you,” he said real soft. Cas muttered “love you” back as he sobbed into the pillow. Heart breaking, Dean left. He headed for the stairs down, but stopped as he walked by Sam’s room. His brother was on the phone and he could sort of make out what he was saying.

“ _I don’t know what to say, I’m sorry…I’ve never had that problem.”_

Very quietly, Dean moved up to the door and listened harder.

“ _I know, I want you here, too…we’ll tell Dean after this baby thing blows over…no, no; he’ll understand, I’m sure…it’s just a precaution…he’s on edge right now…I don’t know…”_

Dean waited the conversation out a little longer. He had no idea who Sam was talking to but it worried him, especially since _his_ name was being dropped so much.

“ _I think they’d be great parents…yeah…_ ” Sam laughed sleepily. “ _I have no idea…I want them to…yes…I haven’t thought about it…I know…I know…I’ll see you later…sleep well…good night…_ ”

Once the phone was clearly hung up, Dean didn’t even knock and walked right in on Sam. The room was dark but the hallway nightlight cast Dean’s shadow over the bed. Sam sat up and rubbed his eyes. “Dean?” he called out groggily.

“Who were you talking to?” Dean asked, hands on his hips.

“Why?”

“Sounded serious. Everything okay?”

“Yes.”

“You got a girlfriend or something you don’t wanna tell me about?”

Sam cleared his throat. “S-sort of.”

“Sort of? What d’you mean?” He took a few steps inside his brother’s room. Sam scratched the back of his head. “What are you gonna tell me when the ‘baby thing blows over.’”

Blushing in the dark, Sam cleared his throat again. He did not want it to happen this way.

“Sammy?”

There was no reason to hide. “I’m dating Gabriel.”

“Wha! Ga! Ha!?” Dean locked up where he stood and stared with his eyes wide open. “Ga!?”

“Y-yeah…”

“Why didn’t you tell me earlier?!”

“Because it’s strange that I like a boy I work with?”

“It’s not _strange,_ Sam. It’s just what you like. So? I’m not gonna hit you or anything.”

“Um, okay, so,” Sam swallowed stiffly. His heart was still beating quickly, worried that Dean would change his mind for no apparent reason whatsoever. “Is that alright?”

“Yeah, of course.”

With a sigh of relief, Sam slumped back against his headboard and smiled. “Alright,” he said, inhaling deeply. Dean rolled his eyes.

“You’re something else,” he said.

“I guess so.”

“Don’t keep secrets from me anymore, alright? I’m your brother. You can trust me.”

“Alright. Thanks, Dean.”

“You’re crazy. Get some sleep.”

“You, too.”

Dean walked out and closed the door behind him. He smiled to himself, but then the strangeness of Sam and Gabe dating… _fucking…_ hit him all at once and he felt sick to his stomach. What were the odds? Still, that would explain why Sam was happier lately. He had the vibe all along that Gabe was queer, anyway. But that was the least of his problems. He still had a very sad husband to deal with.

“Ba—Cas?” Dean corrected himself as he went back into the master bedroom. Cas was curled up beneath the covers now. “Cas?”

“Mmm…”

It sounded like he had begun to fall asleep.

“Hey, Cas, you won’t believe what I just found out.”

“Hmm?”

Dean walked to the bed and dropped his robe before joining him under the sheets. No more tears now. Cas turned over and cuddled up to Dean’s chest. He looked up at him and smiled. Dean tousled his hair.

“Sam and Gabe are an item.”

“What?!” Cas exclaimed.

“Haha yeah, that’s what I thought.” Dean chuckled a bit and ran his fingers through his partner’s hair. He was happy that all of the sadness had blown over so quickly. “But good for them, right?”

“Who bottoms?” Cas asked. Dean laughed.

“Yeah, yeah! I thought the same thing! Probably Sam. He’s such a wuss.”

“Dean! I’m not a wuss!”

“No, no, sweetpea, I know you aren’t. I’m just sayin’.”

Cas shook his head. “I think you’re wrong. I think Sam tops.”

“Why’s that?”

“Gabe had a fierce personality and a lot of spunk, but I think he wants to be nurtured. Don’t you think Sam could provide that level of comfort?”

“I guess so.”

“This is a strange thing to discuss.”

“Hey, you started it.”

“That’s true.” Cas kissed Dean’s chin and hugged him, nestling into his chest. “We can simply ask them in the morning.”

“Sure. That’ll go over well.”

“Why not?”

“Forget about it. We’ll ask ‘em.”

“Very well.”

“I’m gonna try to sleep now, and you should, too.”

“Good night, love.”

“Night, Cas.”

* * *

Dean pulled Gabe aside the moment he stepped into the diner. He got to him before Sam did. Gabe looked like a deer in the headlights, squirming around beneath Dean’s firm grip on his arm.

“What?! What happened?!” he barked.

“I heard you’re dating my little brother,” Dean said, looking sort of scary. Gabe grimaced.

“Uh, yeah! I-is that a problem!?”

“Nope.” Just like that, the fear in Gabe diminished as Dean’s look softened. Maybe it was all subconscious. “I wanted to tell you that you shouldn’t hide from us, okay?”

“Okay!” Gabe said quickly, talking loud to cover up his shyness. “That’s cool. That’s cool! Thanks, Dean.”

“Sure thing, buddy. Just don’t grope each other in the diner.”

“Hey!” Gabe yelled. Dean let off his arm and he folded them.

“What?”

“But you’re always huggin’ and tuggin’ on Cas!”

“Yeah but we’re married. _And_ none of the customers can see us.” Dean clicked his tongue at Gabe as he turned to get behind the counter. Gabe frowned. He ran to Sam, who was serving a booth in the back.

“Why didn’t you tell me you told Dean?!” Gabe bitched.

“What? Because…ahh…Gabe, I’m sorry. I’ve been so busy I didn’t get the chance to call you.”

“A text?! He scared the shit out of me just now!!”

“But he’s fine with it.”

“STILL!! HE WAS SO SCARY!!”

“Shh, shh, relax. Don’t worry. Did he threaten you or something?”

Gabe kicked at the ground. “No,” he said softly, pouting. Sam touched his arm.

“There’s nothing to worry about,” Sam reassured him with a sweet smile. He kissed Gabe on the forehead, causing the shorter boy to blush bright red. “You want to come over tonight? Actually spend time with us? And me?”

Gabe nodded, looking very shy suddenly. Sam kissed his forehead again. A couple of the diners looked at them.

“Follow me home after my shift. No worries, alright?”

“Alright,” Gabe said. He smiled, took Sam’s hands and leaned up on his toes to kiss his lips. Sam smiled back at him, but Dean yelled from behind the counter, “AYE! Cut it out!” Cas, however, watched from the kitchen window with a smile.

* * *

Several hours later, Gabe and Sam clocked out from their shifts and made their way home. The Winchester’s home. He sat on Sam’s handlebars as usual, but he didn’t talk very much. There were butterflies in his stomach and he was just so happy to have a safe place to go to.

“I have to shower after work,” said Sam. They came inside and made their way upstairs. He pointed to the bathroom in the hall. “Do you want to?”

“With you?” Gabe asked. Sam blushed.

“That’s not what I meant.”

“But why not?”

“I…I guess…I guess that’s fine?”

Gabe grinned. “Showering together,” he said with a chuckle, bouncing on his heels. “Romantic-ish, right?”

Sam didn’t answer and blushed more. He took a second towel from the hall closet and handed it to Gabe. They went into the bathroom together and began to undress. Gabe was still very shy about his body, but he trusted Sam when he said he looked good. Sam stripped with no problem and turned on the water, while Gabe hesitated to drop his boxers.

“What’s wrong?” Sam asked.

“Nothin’,” Gabe answered with a grunt. He scrunched up his face, blushing hotly, then let his underwear fall down. Sam looked him over quickly and smiled. He said nothing but gestured to get into the shower.

“Have you showered with someone before?” Gabe asked. He stepped into the tub after Sam and got beneath the water, letting it run all over him.

“First time. I guess you too, right?”

“Yeah.”

Gabe wasn’t quite sure what he should do, and neither was Sam but he didn’t show it as obviously. So Sam took the initiative and grabbed up a bottle of body wash from the edge of the tub. “Here,” he said, squirting some onto a loofa. “Let me wash you.”

Sam pressed the soapy cloth to Gabe’s skin and rubbed in slow circles, spreading the suds around softly. Gabe closed his eyes and moaned at the touch. Sam was so attentive, so gentle and caring with each movement. He moaned louder as Sam moved the loofa lower, across his stomach and down to his crotch where he delicately washed around his dick.

“Is this alright?” Sam asked.

“Y-yeah.”

“Turn around.”

Gabe faced the tap and pushed his ass out to Sam, who held in one hand and with the loofa in the other, then soaped up between his cheeks. Gabe pressed his hands to the tiled wall and whimpered. “G-good…”

“Enjoying yourself?

“Yeah.”

Sam leaned down into Gabe’s neck and turned his face with his nose, nuzzling into Gabe’s cheek and making small kisses. Gabe looked back and kissed him on the lips for a moment.

 

“Do you want to have sex in here?” Sam whispered, but Gabe shook his head. “Do you want to have sex tonight at all?”

“You be mad if I say no?”

“Why would I?” Sam’s soapy massages slowed.

“I dunno. ‘Cause you invited me over.”

“If you don’t want to have sex, that’s fine. But, you’re feeling alright, huh?”

“I’m fine. Just…just nervous I guess.”

“How come?” Sam asked, looking concerned. He began to wash himself. “I’ve seen every inch of you.”

“It’s a big deal for me to stay over. A lot of pressure.”

“Alright,” Sam agreed with a nod. He kissed Gabe again on the cheek. “I understand. No pressure, right?”

“Right.”

They finished up in the shower rather quickly, then Gabe stepped out, dried off and put his boxers back on. He followed Sam into the bedroom where the taller of them put on a clean tank top and a pair of boxer briefs.

“So, we sleep here. You’re cool to sleep in my bed, right?”

“Yeah, totally.”

“Do you mind sleeping with wet hair?”

“Nah!”

Gabe suddenly leaped onto Sam’s bed and curled up beneath the covers. Sam smiled real big and joined him.

“Are you cuddly at night?” Sam asked.

“I dunno.”

“We’ll find out then.”

Gabe nodded and snuggled right into Sam’s arms. He hugged him tightly and sighed with a smile. “Thanks for letting me stay.”

“Sure. Thanks for wanting to stay.”

Gabe stuck his tongue out and looked up at Sam, making a naughty face. “So we’re really boyfriend and boyfriend now, yeah?”

“Yep.”

“That’s awesome. I have a big tall giant amazing sexy boyfriend.”

Sam laughed. He ran his fingers through Gabe’s damp hair slowly, stroking him with his big hands. “And I have a cute little funny boyfriend.”

“Cute little funny?”

“I think so.”

“Okay, okay.” Gabe thought about those words for a moment and decided they were alright. He sighed again and began to close his eyes. Sam kept stroking his head.

“Dean and Cas will come home later. I hope they don’t wake us up.”

“Horndogs,” Gabe muttered.

“Tell me about it.”

“It’s sweet though, I think. Couple a’ domesticated faggots. Cute stuff.”

“Yeah,” Sam agreed with a small nod. He suppressed a yawn and settled back into the pillow more, putting his free hand around Gabe’s waist. “They make a nice house. A nice safe place for us. No judgment. Nothing like that. You can be yourself here.”

“I’m glad,” Gabe said, sounding sleepier and sleepier. “I want to be myself.”

Sam hugged him tighter and they began to drift off into sleep.


	16. A Little Obscene

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With the pie sale about to start, Dean and Cas make the necessary preparations. Gabe has plans, too, but of a different nature.

“That’s fucking rude!!”

Gabe wobbled as he sat propped up on his usual spot, gesticulating wildly as he yelled back at Sam.

“Tell me about it,” said Sam, peddling away. “They do it all the time.”

“Ugh! What the fuck! I mean, _I_ think it’s kinda sexy, but for you? It must SUCK!”

“It does, it does.”

“We should give ‘em some of their own medicine.”

“What do you mean?”

“Come on, come on. You know!”

“Um, no, I don’t.”

Gabe peered back over his shoulder with a naughty little smile, but Sam hardly noticed since he was biking up to the side of the diner. They rattled over some gravel and parked the bike in front of Dean’s big old car. When they hopped off, Gabe folded his arms and stuck a thin sliver of tongue out between his lips.

“So, what?” Sam asked with a raising of his eyebrows.

“Take what he does, and give it right back to him!” Gabe cheered.

Sam walked ahead of him with his mouth open. He couldn’t believe what Gabe was proposing! He shook his head and pushed through the front door of Mary’s Diner. Bobby was sitting at the counter and reading the day’s paper, but nobody else was there yet. In the kitchen, Cas made some clattering and clinking as he got ready for the day.

“It seems pretty rude,” Sam said quietly.

“But _they’re_ rude, Sammich!” Gabe argued. Sam shushed him, but too late.

“Who’s rude?” Dean shouted from one side of the room. He was leaning over something that resembled an easel.

“Nobody!” Gabe said, laughing. He ran over to what Dean and looked at the thing. “What is this?”

“Chalkboard,” said Dean. “But you need to get your apron on. Can’t have you come in early on your day off if I gotta wait tables.”

“Sorry, boss.” Gabe ran off to the kitchen, but by then Sam was ready, and we went to where Dean was.

“Why a chalkboard?” Sam asked.

“We found it on the side of the road while we came in today. Someone was throwing it away. But look! It’s in great shape, ain’t it?” Dean grinned like a jerk but Sam just laughed. In different colored chalks, Dean had written **PIE SALE** followed by a drawing of a little pie. A few basic details followed. “I’m gonna put it out front to reel them in.”

“That’s a cool idea,” said Sam.

“I thought so.” Then Dean leaned in the direction of the kitchen and called out, “Babe? You wanna see the board before it goes out?”

“Yes!” A small voice answered from within, then Cas immediately came bounding out from the two-way door. Bobby watched the curiously over his coffee.

“This good?” asked Dean. Cas stood with his hands on his hips as he read over the chalkboard.

“You forgot—ahh—Dean---give me a piece of chalk.”

“What?” He held out a small stick to Cas, who snatched it immediately and began hashing something out along the bottom.

“Well, you two have fun with that,” said Sam, snickering. He went around to the kitchen but was flagged down by Bobby, who requested a refill and wanted to know what the deal was with the blackboard. “Advertising the pie sale.”

“Gonna put me down fer one?” Bobby asked.

“Sure. How many, and what kind?”

“I’ll take ‘n apple. Just one. Thanks, boy. How much?”

“They’re $20.”

“I don’t think that’s too bad. Fer a fundraisers, an’ a whole big homemade pie. Here ya go.” Bobby took out his wallet and handed Sam a $20.

“Thank you, Bobby. Hey, Dean? Can you put down an apple pie for Bobby?”

“Okay,” Dean replied. He quickly dashed away from his husband and stepped behind the counter. There was a list that he was keeping track of the orders on. As he filled out a line for Bobby and asked what day he wanted to get it, Cas took the newly revised chalkboard and went out front with it. Beneath the pie drawing it now read “just in time for Halloween.”

He set it out to the side of the door at a handsome angle, still pushing it back and forth to make it perfect. When he finished, stood in front of it and tried to reaffirm his choice of position, a familiar voice came alongside him.

“Finally getting around to the pie sale, are we?”

Cas turned and saw Mr. Crowley there, hands sticking in the pockets of a nice, jet black blazer that complemented a deep burgundy tie. He raised his eyebrows and looked at Cas with a thin smile. “Just in time for Halloween?”

“I would have preferred to do this for Thanksgiving,” said Cas. “But I’m not sure we can wait that long.”

“What a pity,” said Crowley. “Cutting it down to the wire like that. Do you think you’ll make it?”

“To be perfect honest, I’m not sure. We need a miracle.”

“Oh, oh, I’m sorry.”

“There’s nothing you can do,” said Cas. He pressed his lips together and his eyes looked especially sad. “I’m beginning to feel that there’s nothing _anybody_ can do.”

“Cheer up, darling,” said Crowley. He took a hand from his pocket and lightly pinched Cas’ arm. Cas stared at him. “What?”

“Did you pinch me?”

“Sorry, force of habit. I’m not infringing on your precious hubby’s territory am I?”

Cas shook his head. “It’s merely a pinch.”

“I thought so. And at any rate, I’ve got a wife and children of my own. You don’t have any children, right?”

“Um, no, we don’t.”

“’Course not. I was talking to good old Dean-o just the other day about it. Seems he’s a bit messed up in the head about it.”

“I know,” Cas said in a small, sad voice. He shifted on his heels uncomfortably. “It was a mistake when I told him.”

“Then why did you?”

“I was drunk, I don’t know. It slipped out and he’s been strange ever since then.”

“Well, you know he wants one, right?”

“Oh, I know. He says he just isn’t ready.”

Crowley leaned in to Cas and lowered his volume. “He’s stressed about the diner, that’s all. Once this all blows over he’ll be ready.”

“Do you think so?”

“I can tell, darling. Nothing to worry about. Now I think you’ve got to get that pretty little arse of yours back into the kitchen and start the day, am I right?”

“Yes. Thank you.” Cas nodded and walked back inside.

“And don’t forget to put down my peach pie, lovely!”

* * *

“Thanks, Sammich.”

With night having dropped it cloak over the city, Gabe found himself once again spending the night with his lover. They curled up beneath the covers of the small bed and embraced.

“You really don’t need to thank me,” said Sam. He smoothed his palm over the back of Gabe’s head, flattening the soft hair.

“But I wanna.”

A snicker resonated within Sam’s chest. “Okay. Then, you can. If you want to.”

“Mmm…”

Sam’s arms wrapped around Gabe’s waist and pulled him closer, so they could rub and twists their bodies together. Gabe leaned up and kissed him. Sam closed his eyes and pushed tenderly into the kiss, humming as he turned his head.

“Do you want to have sex?” Sam asked.

“Maybe,” Gabe answered a little reluctantly.

“Would it make you uncomfortable?”

“No.”

“Then…well…I don’t want to force you.”

“I dunno.”

While they debated love making, the couple on the other side of the wall didn’t need to decide. Cas was already on his hands and knees, forearms pressing into the pillow and his eyes shut tightly as Dean, sitting behind him, spread his cheeks and dove in with his tongue. He was eating Cas’ hole like he hadn’t done so in years. His tongue flicked and licked, swirled and squelched with a sticky, sloppy, wet and messy kissing sound. Cas moaned in tiny breaths.

“Dean… _Dean_ …”

“Like it?” Dean asked between hot kisses. He smacked and popped his lips around the hole, dipping his tongue in and out from time to time.

“Y-yes,” Cas gasped. He gripped at the pillow more, grinding his ass back against Dean’s face, and Dean licked harder. Faster. He ran his tongue up and down through his crack a few times, smiling as he saw Cas squirm about through narrow eyes. “Hooohh…”

“You’re so beautiful,” Dean said. He kept licking, breathing heavy, rubbing his nose along Cas’ tight knot and then kissing it. “You’re so beautiful and you look so beautiful. You smell so beautiful.”

“I love you,” Cas whimpered.

“I love you, baby. I love you so much.”

Then Dean moved his face away and sat up on his knees. Cas, needing more touch, wriggled his butt wantonly as he yelped. “Shh, almost,” Dean coaxed. A hand rubbed over Cas’ cheek then smacked it.

“Naaah!” Cas moaned.

“You want me?”

“Yes!”

“You want my dick in your tight little ass?”

“Yes!!”

“You want me to pound you raw?”

“YES, DEAN, YES!”

“Hehehe alright, baby, here we go.”

Dean slathered a good bit of lubricant over Cas’ hole, fingering him quite quickly before taking his cock and pushing it inside. Cas swallowed him up hungrily, needing more and more. His ass stretched around the thick cock and he growled.

“Deeeeeeaaan.”

“Ahh, fuck ,baby, that’s GOOD!”

Dean held onto Cas by the hips and started pounding into him. He rolled his head back and dealt blow after blow of hard, delicious thrusts inside him.

“Caaaaaas!”

BUT

Back in the other bedroom, Sam was very, very unhappy.

“I can’t believe it,” he said, looking like the noises caused him physical pain. Gabe poked Sam in the chest and said they needed to get revenge.

“It’ll be sweet! C’mon, c’mon Sam!”

“So now you want sex?”

“I never said I didn’t!”

 _“Unnngg, Caaaaas!”_ The moans continued loudly and thumps from the bedpost started. Sam cringed.

“C’mon!” Gabe continued to taunt. He pushed Sam onto his back and climbed up on top of him. “Just like this. We’ll teach ‘em a lesson. It’s almost kinda funny!”

“It’s not funny, Gabe,” Sam groaned. He put his hands on Gabe’s thighs and rubbed lightly. “It’s gross.”

“Yeah, what they’re doing is gross so let’s show them how to be gross back at ‘em.”

“Gabe…”

“Sammich, c’mon.”

Gabe leaned down and kissed Sam on the lips, rubbing his ass into Sam’s crotch. He whispered, “Sammy…”

_“Ohh! Ohh!! Deaan! Deaaaan!”_

Sam sighed. “It is pretty rude.”

With a nod, Gabe ran a thin finger down Sam’s face. The wall rattled with Dean and Cas’ lovemaking. “We’ll show ‘em, huh?”

“A-alright.”

Sam’s hands ran around Gabe’s waist and to his ass. He spread the cheeks gently and touched his hole with his fingertips. Gabe jolted forward and squealed. His hands grappled Sam’s bare shoulders. “Fuck me, Sammy.”

“Yeah. Yeah, alright, Gabe.”

Feeling a little more comfortable and trying to ignore his brother’s throaty groans, Sam let off Gabe for a moment to spurt some lubricant onto his hands. He came back and smeared it in small circles around the tight, tight young hole.

“Ooo!” Gabe gasped. “Yeah, Sammich. Finger me, bay-bay.”

“D-don’t say _bay-bay_ ,” Sam said with a tight groan. One big finger dipped inside with care, stretching Gabe a teeny bit.

“Sorry, sorry. Haa…f-finger me, Sammy.”

A little more seductively, Gabe leaned down and kissed Sam on the lips. He purred as the finger prodded deep within him, stretching out a small circle and teasing, then Sam pushed another one inside and Gabe moaned loudly against their lips.

“Give me your dick, Sammich.”

“O-okay. Heh. Sure.”

Sam blushed bright red as he reached down to stroke his own boner. He poked it against Gabe’s ass, smearing some extra lube on it, then slowly, slowly, carefully, eased it inside. Gabe arched his back and threw his head back, taking the dick hungrily. “Ahhh! AHHH! SAMMYYYY!” he shouted, being extra loud on purpose of course. Sam let off his dick and held onto Gabe’s hips firmly, so he could keep him still as he began to thrust up into him. Gabe used Sam’s shoulders like handles and rode him, bouncing and bobbing as he blushed intensely.

“Aaaah!! Waaaaah!!! Saaaam! Saammmy!! F-f-fuck meeee!!”

But in the other room, Cas was crying out as Dean continued to plow into him. He clutched at the pillows, grinding his teeth as thin, glistening beads of sweat ran down his forehead. Dean held him around the waist, toying with his firm cock and slamming, smacking his dick inside.

“Huhhhh, Caaaaaas!” Dean groaned. He kept pressing his lips to the center of Cas’ back, tasting his sweet sweat and smelling his flourishing array of sex hormones. “Take my diiiiick!”

_“Saammyy! Saaaaaaaammy!”_

Dean’s concentration was thrown off by moans in the other room. He sat up straight and ceased humping, but Cas was very upset with that. He wriggled beneath him and moaned in desperation. “Dean! Deany! D-don’t stop!! I-I’m gonna cum!!”

“Damn. DAMN! Cas, fuck. Wait a second.”

“Haaa! Aaah! Dean, no! Pleeaaase!” He kept clenching his asshole and bucking his throbbing cock into Dean’s loose fist. He needed to get off bad. “Deaaan!”

Frustrated, Dean clenched his jaw and said, “I can hear my brother having sex” between his teeth.

“D-don’t care!” Cas whined. “P-please fuck me!!”

“Cas, come on!”

“Deaaaan!! I’m so clooose!” His voice grew even hoarser and gravellier than usual, moaning so desperately. “J-just a little bit longer! Pleeaase!”

He had no choice. He couldn’t leave Cas hanging. So Dean held his husband’s cock once more, pumping it as he began to thrust. Cas breathed a heavy, tense sigh of relief and he bucked his ass back firmly. The feeling of Dean going at it again was so wonderful.

“Ohhh, Deaaaan,” he moaned, dick throbbing hard as it nearly reached its peak. Dean reluctantly slammed into him, although the background noise was extremely unsettling.

_“Saam! Aaah! Fuuuck!”_

_“Mmmhh…Gabe…y-yeah…gaah…”_

“Fuckin’ hell,” Dean grunted to himself. He _had_ to focus on Cas getting off. Cas, his beautiful husband. Cas, his sexy, slutty little babydoll with the incredible tight ass. Cas, the—

_“Sammy, Sammy I’m gonna cum! Aah! AAAHH! FUCK ME! FUCK ME GOOD! AAHH! WAAH!!”_

Dean kept pounding, concentrating so hard on the ass around his dick and the dick inside his hand. He blushed with sick embarrassment as he heard his brother pleasure another man. Then Cas buckled and tightened his hole more.

“Naaaah! Deaaaan! Ooooh!! OOOH!”

A fine load squirted out from the tip of Cas’ dick and onto the silky sheets, causing the man to curl up more and tremble, convulse, quiver from the deliciously delirious pleasure. “Mmmmhhhh…”

Dean felt sick to his stomach. He pulled his dick out of Cas’ ass and jerked it slowly. His brother quieted down, as did Gabe. Cas collapsed into the bed, cuddled up beneath the covers and begged for Dean to join him in a whisper. Dean, almost green in the face, stopped pleasure himself and laid next to Cas. He put his arm around Cas’ waist and swallowed a tight lump in his throat. Cas already began to fall asleep. Gabe was quite proud of himself and Sam had a good laugh, too.


	17. The Nightmare and the Dream

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The awkwardness from the previous night is perpetuated, but Gabe doesn't do anything to help slow it down. Then the pie sale comes to a daunting stop as Dean and Cas make some tough conclusions.

 

Cas must have gotten up early. The bed was empty. Dean sighed to himself and turned over to see the clock. Two minutes before the alarm. He stared at it until it went off, then slowly slid out from under the covers, pulled on a clean pair of boxer briefs and wrapped up into his robe. With a grouchy, grumpy face and a little hunch, he made his way downstairs to find everyone else at the table already. He silently walked to his usual chair and plopped down. Sam cleared his throat, Gabe fiddled with his own hands in his lap and Cas brought Dean a cup of hot coffee.

“Good morning, my love,” said Cas. Dean twitched his upper lip and sipped the coffee. “Are you doing alright?”

Dean forced a cheesy smile at his husband and said, “JUST FINE, BABE!” In a tone that was somewhere between angry and sarcastic. Then he turned to Sam and said, “Oh, by the way, thanks for the lovely case of blue balls last night.”

Sam thinned his lips and said, “It’s just love, Dean.” His sass caught Dean by surprise and he stared at Sam for a moment, then Cas interrupted before it could get anymore awkward.

“Gabriel, you are going to your classes today, correct?”

“Nah.”

Cas immediately put his hands on his hips and frowned. “And why _not?_ ”

“’Cause I wanna hang with Sammich.”

Sam looked like he was trying to separate himself from the discussion.

“Your parents are paying for your education, aren’t they?” Cas asked.

“Yeah.” Gabe slouched back in his chair.

“It’s no wonder,” Cas hummed, shaking his head. “They’re spending good money to give you something that many people would _die_ to have. And here you sit, contemplating skipping class to be with a boy?”

“He’s not just a boy,” Gabe groaned, leaning against Sam.

“It doesn’t matter. You are going to class.”

“You aren’t my mom!”

“I am aware.” Cas turned his head away and walked back to the coffee pot to pour himself a mug.

“You’re much prettier, I’m sure,” Dean had to add. He was apparently already over his horror with Sam, and had reverted back to his cheeky self. He took a big sip of coffee, smacked his lips and smiled at Cas, who didn’t look.

“Yeah maybe,” Gabe said. “But he’s got the same bug up his ass.”

Cas watched himself as he poured coffee then clicked off the maker, peering through narrow eyes and sucking his teeth. It was that silent treatment face, where any minute he could suddenly go off.

“Don’t think he’s ever put bugs up there.”

“ _Dean!_ ” Cas hissed.

“What?”

“After all of your moping from last night, you’re still going to make dirty jokes?”

“Uh, yeah. Why not?”

Suddenly Gabe learned forward across the table at Dean and said, “’Cause Sammy was putting a lot of ‘bugs’ in _my_ ass last night!”

Dean was unamused. He pushed his coffee away and got up from the table, past everyone and back upstairs. Cas sighed. “Dean,” he said softly, but he was already gone.

“Hey, Cas?” Sam asked once Dean was completely out of earshot. Cas sighed once more, then carried his mug to the table and took where Dean had been.

“Yes?” He was a little frustrated.

“I’m real sorry about that.”

“Nu uh!” Gabe interjected forcefully. Sam shook his head.

“No, I am.”

Cas laughed. “It’s fine, Sam. There’s no reason to apologize.”

“Well…alright.”

Gabe kissed Sam on the cheek. “See? We did the right thing.” Sam smiled, then Cas got up and told Gabe to get ready for school. “Ye-es, Mom…”

“Thank you,” said Cas.

Sam chuckled lightly, stretched his back then got up. Gabe’s hands pawed at his escaping partner. “What?” Sam asked. “I’m going to get dressed.”

“But—ahhh—okay.”

He kissed Gabe on the top of his head then went upstairs, creaking the steps as he did so. Gabe was left sitting at the table alone while Cas tidied up in the kitchen. He stared at the table for a moment. “Uh…”

“Hmm?” Cas asked, wiping down a counter. Gabe thought it was weird that what Cas did at home was exactly his job at the diner. It was like he only knew how to do one thing.

“You uh, you like…being married and stuff?”

“I certainly do.”

“Dean’s a cool husband?”

“I don’t think I would say ‘cool’ but he’s quite wonderful.”

“That’s nice…” Gabe cleared his throat, blushing a bit as he looked side to side. “He uh…he do nice stuff to you?”

Cas looked back over his shoulder at Gabe and narrowed his eyes. “What do you mean?”

“Sexually.”

“And why are you asking?”

“I don’t know anybody else to ask. Like, ugh, this is weird, okay? I wanna do more stuff with Sam but I dunno what to do.”

Cas turned bright red. He pointed his eyes back to the countertop and wiped very, very slowly. “Well,” he began, speaking much quieter than usual. “I believe you can research these topics online.”

“Yeah but what does the internet know?”

“Oh, goodness, Gabriel. I really…ohh…”

“I shouldn’t ‘a said anything.”

“No, that’s fine. It’s good to be curious and I’m glad you’re comfortable enough with me to ask.” Cas left the towel in the sink and came back to the table. He sat down across from Gabe and took his hand. Gabe furrowed his brow. “You are practically part of this family, and I’m glad we can connect like this. I’m sorry I responded awkwardly.”

“Uhhh, sure? Okay.” Gabe shifted in his seat but Cas continued to hold his hand.

“Dean is very talented with his tongue. He’s a big fan of ass worship.”

Gabe flushed red. “UM. OKAY.” Now he really regretted asking.

“My favorite thing is to sit atop his face with his fucks me with his tongue. It’s lovely. And I can fumble with his package as well.”

“Jesus. Okay. That’s fine.” Gabe spoke quickly but Cas was getting this far-off look in his eyes and he kept running his mouth.

“But nothing can quite compare to when he makes love to me against a wall. He’s so strong, and his penis is extremely thick.”

“CAS! Okay! I get it! I’m sorry!”

Cas looked at Gabe and cocked his head. “Why are you sorry?” he asked.

“Sorry I asked. But thanks. Thanks for being _really_ open. I’m just gonna go to school now, so I’ll see you at work later.”

“Of course.” He let off Gabe’s hand and the younger of them darted upstairs. He convinced himself that it was payback for being embarrassing the night before, and that way everyone was even.

* * *

 

“Oh, oh, incredible. I don’t think we can take many more.”

Cas was reading the list of pie orders. They were getting ready to start the dinner shift so he had a couple minutes to discuss baking plans with Dean.

“How many we got?” Dean asked, propping his elbows on the window to between the kitchen and counter. He clicked his tongue cutely as Cas counted the list.

“Seventeen, eighteen…eighteen.”

“You can do that.”

“They want them all tomorrow!” Cas’ eyes widen as he looked up from the sheet and stared at Dean.

“Oh. Uh. Hm. Well. I dunno, babe.”

Cas sighed. “I’ll have to bake all night, just as I thought.”

“Cas, don’t do that. Hold on.”

Dean scurried around into the kitchen so he could have a more private talk with him. The door flapped around when he passed through, then he walked up to Cas and hugged him. Cas embraced weakly.

“You’re gonna overexert yourself if you’re up all night. Then you’re still gonna work all day. Don’t do that, babe.” He smoothed his hand over Cas’ hair.

“Then what? I can’t possibly bake this much during business hours. It’s far too complicated. Ahh, it was my fault. I should have made them pick different days!”

“Relax,” Dean coaxed. He gave Cas several tiny, sweet kisses on the cheek and shushed him a few times. Cas gazed at Dean with sad eyes. “We’ll figure it out, okay?” Dean hummed. “Let’s focus on something a little more positive. We can mark up your chart with the new total.”

“Very well,” Cas agreed. He was still rather sad but forced a smile regardless. Dean poked his nose and chuckled, just before they both left the kitchen and walked to the thermometer graph. It sat propped up near the register next to their description of what was going on. Cas did some quick math in his head, then took up the red marker and filled up a tiny bit more, writing $1452 beside it. When the number was there and the red filled so little, leaving this giant empty tube that lead to their goal, Dean and Cas turned to each other and frowned. It dawned on them at that moment how, through all the hard work they had been doing the last few weeks, they were impossibly far from the goal.

“I—“ Cas began, but Dean stopped him. He didn’t want to hear it. He refused to accept it.

“No,” said Dean. He took Cas by the arm and pulled him away from the chart. “We’ll keep at it until we make our goal, okay?”

“But—“

“Nope! I don’t wanna hear it.” He began to tread across the floor and to the kitchen once more. They passed by Sam, who had been casually observing.

“Dean—“ Cas tried to speak again.

“Shh!”

“ _Dean!_ ”

Cas stopped in his tracks. He pulled Dean’s hand out from his arm.

“What?” Dean asked, looking back with a frown. What customers they had slowed their eating to pay more attention to the married couple.

“I’m going to bake all night,” Cas announced. He put his nose up in the air and went right by Dean and into the kitchen. Dean didn’t bother following; Cas was in one of _those moods_ and it wouldn’t do any good to pursue him further. So he skulked back behind the register and sat at his little stool, feeling all sorts of ways about the situation at hand. He wondered what would happen if they got sold out. Where would he go? Sam would return to school, of course, but would there be a place for him in the summer? Would it matter? Dean thought he might just sell the house and move someplace else, maybe a cheaper city, where he could start over without any dumb and expensive dreams, but would Cas want to do that? Then he began to worry, because if Cas wasn’t happy with the new direction in their life, would he want a divorce? Dean’s stomach turned at the thought. He couldn’t live without Cas.

“E-excuse me?”

Someone was talking to Dean but he was so lost in his troublesome thoughts he didn’t hear at first.

“Um…Dean…right?”

Then he snapped out of it and looked up. It was Charlie, though Dean didn’t really know who she was.

“Oh, hey. Sorry about that. You need something?”

“Y-yeah, I was just wondering if you were still taking orders for the pie sale?”

“Ahh, we’re sorta full. Sorry ‘bout that.”

“Oh. Darn.” Charlie laughed nervously, bouncing slightly on the balls of her feet. “Missed the boat. Again. Typical!”

“I guess if you can wait a few days, we could make you one.”

“Really?”

“Sure. Why not? Whole pies haven’t exactly been on the menu, but maybe we can make some changes.”

“That’s a _good_ idea,” Charlie said, nodding. “’Cause I think people will really buy them a lot. He’s really a good baker…um…what’s his name?”

“Cas,” said Dean. His eyes sparkled just with that word.

“Right. And he’s your husband, yeah?”

“Sure is.”

“That’s cute. That’s very cute! You guys run this place together?”

“Yep.”

“And the tall guy is your brother?”

“Yeah, Sam.”

“Sam. Alright. That’s awesome. It’s…it’s really sweet. I think for a family to come together and pull of a thing like this is incredible, you know? Just the fact that you can work together all day, every day, without getting super angry at each other is cool. I’m impressed. My folks could never do this.”

Dean smiled sadly. “Yeah…well…it’s not always easy.”

“But you still do it,” Charlie said. She took out her wallet and handed Dean a $20. “And that’s really special. So if you can make me a cherry pie, just sometime, it doesn’t really matter, I’d be eternally grateful.”


	18. What does this mean?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With time and money running out, tension is high. Gabe learns of Sam's plan for his future, regardless of the diner. Dean and Cas make pie.

“Dean’s going to be out all night, he said.”

“Really? _All_ night?”

“That’s what he said.”

“Huhhh…doing the pie stuff, right?”

“I assume so. Do you want a beer or something?”

“Nah.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah.”

Gabe sprawled out on the living room sofa with his arms above his head, while Sam popped into the kitchen real quick.

“Do you want anything?”

“Yeah.”

“What?”

“You.”

“Hahaha hold on, I’ll be right back.”

Sam chuckled to himself as he took a can of beer from the fridge. He returned to Gabe promptly, who had flipped on the old tube TV, then sat by his feet and put a hand on his thigh. Gabe glanced at him and smiled.

“We didn’t really get a lot of dough with the pie sale,” Gabe said. “No pun intended.”

“I noticed,” Sam answered, sipping his beer and then sighing. He fixed his eyes on the TV, where some action movie was playing. He wondered if Gabe cared what was on. “I am kind of worried.”

“The diner?”

“Yes.”

“Me, too, man.” Gabe kicked at Sam’s leg playfully, though his face remained a little serious. “I don’t wanna find a new job. I like working there. I wouldn’t wanna go anywhere else.”

“Really?”

“Yeah! And I don’t wanna…what are you gonna do if they close?”

Sam shrugged lightly. “Go back to school.”

Then Gabe sat up and looked at Sam very, very serious. His forehead scrunched up with concern. “Actually?” he asked, his voice dropping greatly in volume and sounding rather unlike himself. Sam looked at him and pressed his lips together.

“That’s what I’ve been trying to do this entire time. I told you, a while ago, that I don’t really want to be working at the diner.”

“But—so—what about us?”

Sensing impending tears in the look on Gabe’s face, Sam set down his beer and gave him a hug. He felt terrible, but the truth was the truth. “We don’t know what’s going to happen to the diner. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.”

Gabe held onto Sam tightly, burrowing his face into the crook of his neck. His cheeks turned red. “I don’t want you to leave me.”

“I know, but I—“

“Without you, it’s just me and my shitty family,” Gabe continued, speaking urgently as his voice welled up with great silence. He smoothed his fingers over the fabric on Sam’s shirt and tugged slightly. “I don’t wanna be alone again.”

“I never planned on being here very long,” Sam tried to explain. But as Gabe thought about it, he suddenly got mad. He let go of Sam and glared at him.

“So, so, so then you’d go back to school even if the diner _didn’t_ close?!”

“Well, yes…I mean, Dean bribed me into taking a year off. I don’t want to be here.”

A tight lump in Gabe’s throat stuck. His eyes wiggled and tears began to grow. Sam felt even worse.

“Then why the fuck did you get involved with me!? Knowing you’d just leave?!”

“I-I didn’t choose to get involved, it just happened. We met and then it moved so quickly—“

“Sammich!!” Gabe yelled. He got up from the sofa and ran to the front door to put his shoes and jacket on. “That’s why your brother is a dick. ‘Cause _you’re_ a dick, too! You ain’t thinking about anybody but yourself! Oh, you wanna go to school. That’s your fucking priority and you won’t even worry about my feelings?!”

“But, but, Gabe!” Sam called out from the sofa. He put his hands in his lap and wondered, quickly, what he should do. “School is really important.”

“Then go to school! Go to school and have a school life, but don’t come here acting like you’re gonna stay a while, but still have your school life! That’s fucking rude!!”

The front door flung open, Gabe ran out and then slammed it real hard behind him. Sam got up finally and said, “no, no, Gabe,” softly to himself. He ran after him.

“Gabe, you’re being unreasonable,” Sam explained, dashing up alongside the younger of them. He was walking down the sidewalk in a huff, arms folded. But it was almost midnight and the city was eerily quiet.

“You used me.”

“No, I didn’t. I swear.”

“Then what? What were you thinking?”

“I don’t know,” Sam said shortly. “I, I came back to help Dean. Then I stayed longer than I wanted. I was hoping you would replace me, but then I…”

Gabe kept walking. He made a pouty face and another tear rolled down his cheek. “You what?” he hissed, flicking his hair out of his face.

“I fell in love with you.”

Sam stopped walking. He looked at the ground as he felt his face light up. Gabe slowed and looked back.

“You did?” he asked, sounding less angry and more surprised now.”

“I did. I am.”

Gabe stepped back to where Sam was and kicked at the ground. He put his hands in his jacket pockets and puffed up his cheeks. “Then why leave?” he asked softly.

“Because I don’t see any future for me if I don’t get a higher education.”

“You should transfer to the campus here.”

“I want to go to _my_ school. The one I know, and I already have years under my belt. I just, I just wish you could understand. I had no intention of meeting someone special here, working for Dean. I miss school and I want to get back there very, very badly.”

Gabe stepped closer to Sam and put his head against him. Sam hugged him cautiously. “Okay,” Gabe hummed.

“Okay what?”

“Okay I’m sorry for yelling.”

“It’s fine. I deserved it. I guess it was pretty shitty to get involved with you.”

“So maybe we shouldn’t be involved.”

Sam inhaled sharply. He fought back his feelings as much as possible, patting Gabe on the back. “Maybe we shouldn’t.”

* * *

Back at the diner, Cas was in full on pie baking mode. The oven was going and he was rolling out dough, prebaking it a little, then checking the list to pick the right filling. A bunch of pans were set on the stove; some with bubbling cherries, peaches and apples. Then he had a bowl of pumpkin filling. As he spooned some cherries into a crust, Dean stood behind him and rubbed his shoulders.

“You don’t have to do that,” said Cas.

“I know. But I wanna. Feels like I need to be helping you.”

“It’s enough that you’re staying here.” Cas turned his head around and quickly kissed Dean on the lips. He took up a top crust and fitted it around the pie. “There.”

“Looks yummy,” Dean remarked, grinning over his husband’s shoulder.

“Don’t you eat enough pie?” Cas laughed. He took the pie in both hands then put it down into the oven. He set a timer.

“You can never have enough pie. How many more, babe?”

“15.”

“Ugh. We really will be here all night, huh?”

“Yes.”

Dean got a little bored and decided he’d help out more, so he stirred the fillings and kept track of the chart for Cas. They chatted about this and that, but by the time they were at 9 pies left, Dean needed to do something more interesting. He crept over to the mp3 player dock and turned it on. It was Cas’ device with all of Cas’ weird music on it, and when the speakers turned on, _I’ll Be Seeing You_ sung by Frank Sinatra began to play.

“I thought you abhorred this style of music?” Cas asked, grinning softly at the tune.

“I do,” said Dean. He came back over to Cas and slipped his arms around his waist. “But if you like it, I can sure tolerate it.”

“Mmmm that’s sweet,” Cas hummed. Dean began to rock him side to side in rhythm with the music. “What are you doing?”

“Trying to keep this night alive.”

The timer went off. “Let me just take this pie out,” Cas said. He put on his oven mitts then bent down to pull the next pie out. Dean smacked Cas’ butt slightly when he bent down, but as he stood back up, Dean hugged him again and pressed tons of small kisses against his neck.

“Ohh, Dean,” Cas sighed. He put the pie onto the counter then leaned back against his husband.

“Come here,” Dean cooed. He then yanked Cas back and turned him around. His arms remained on his waist as he swayed in time with the music. Cas, blushing, put his hands onto Dean’s shoulders and smiled up at him, taking up the beat as well.

“Dean,” Cas whispered.

“Yeah?”

“We haven’t danced since our wedding.”

“This is barely dancing.”

“It’s close enough.”

A boyishly-sweet smile went across Cas’ face as they swayed together across the kitchen floor. His fingers tightened on Dean’s shoulders and he leaned in for a soft kiss.

“Love you, baby,” Dean whispered.

“I love you,” was Cas’ dreamy reply. He gazed at Dean with the biggest, sparkling eyes ever. His blinks were slow and full of thought.

“What is it?” Dean asked.

“Nothing.”

“Sure?”

“Yes.”

Cas moved his arms more so that he really hugged Dean. He put his head on Dean’s shoulder and closed his eyes, still swaying to the music.


	19. Chapter 19

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everything is coming to a head; Sam debates school, Cas tries to overlook the truth, everyone gets their pies and some news comes in the mail.

 

“Here is your pumpkin pie. Thank you!”

Despite running on zero sleep, Cas flashed a big grin and handed a nicely boxed pie over the counter to the customer at the counter. They thanked him in return then walked out of the diner, letting the next person in line come up.

“Oh, hello Mr. Crowley.”

“Hello, darling. Have you my peach pie?”

“Yes, certainly.”

Cas turned around and searched for the pie marked _Crowley_. Upon finding it, he turned back to the customer and held it out to him with a grin. “A peach pie for Mr. Crowley.”

Crowley took it and smiled, narrowing his eyes. “Very lovely. And how’s the sale going?”

“Oh…” Cas gestured towards the thermometer graph. It wasn’t even a quarter way filled in.

“Not well, I suppose,” Crowley said, sparing Cas the dismal explanation. “What a pity.”

“We will make it,” Cas said. There was little enthusiasm in his voice, but his eyes twinkled with confidence.

“You believe in miracles, do you?”

“Yes.”

“Always good to be optimistic, I’d say.” Crowley lifted his pie up just slightly and grinned. “Just as I’m optimistic this pie will be as beautiful as its maker.”

Cas blushed. “Th-thank you,” he said softly.

“Ta very much, love.”

“Bye…”

Cas waved weakly as the British man made his way out of the diner. He moved out of the way for the mailman to come in, then the door pinged a few times as it closed. Cas looked over at the graph and sighed. The next customer came to claim their pie after a couple letters were left on the countertop.

Things weren’t any easier for Sam. In fact, he hadn’t heard from Gabe at all since they went separate ways the night prior. He was thinking hard about his life decisions, especially after Gabe compared him to Dean in his dickishness. Some self-reflection had gears moving in his head.

“Sam?”

A woman called out to him as he wiped down a table, daydreaming. He looked over and saw Charlie standing in the middle of the restaurant, hands together with a confused face.

“Oh, hey Charlie. I think your pie is coming tomorrow.”

“That’s fine. I just wanted to see how it was going. You know. The goal?”

“It’s um, well, it’s…” Sam sighed sadly. He pointed to the graph. “You can see for yourself.”

Charlie looked in the direction Sam pointed and gasped. “No, seriously?” she asked, her face growing gravely sad. Sam nodded. “But there’s gotta be _something_ you can do.”

“We’ve pretty much run out of ideas.”

“No!” Charlie groaned. “But, Sam! I…no, there’s still time.”

“Yes that’s true, but I don’t know if there’s enough.”

Charlie looked around at the diner. She seemed to scan every table, every booth and the entirety of the counter. She saw Cas handing out pies with a tired smile, people chatting calmly amongst themselves over drinks. Then she looked back at Sam and stepped a little closer.

“This is probably going to sound silly,” she began. Sam told her to go ahead anyway. “But in the short time I’ve been getting to know all of you, this place has started to feel like home.”

“Really? How so?”

“I kinda, well I have some problems at home. I’ve been going to school so I can get away from them. It’s bogus having a family that doesn’t seem to care about you…but here? This diner is so welcoming and friendly. It’s like I actually have a place to fit in and not be judged.”

Sam stared out of the window as Charlie spoke. He watched a car pull away in the parking lot, people laughing from within. Then a couple walked up to the front door and read the sign explaining the situation. They appeared to be sad as they finished.

“You go to school in town, right?” Sam asked. Charlie nodded. “Do you like it?”

“I do, yeah. Why?”

Before Sam could answer Charlie’s question, his eyes fell to Gabe, who was coming in to start his shift. His hands were shoved in his pockets and he frowned behind a couple wisps of wayward hair.

“Sorry, I’ll be right back!” Sam shouted. Charlie looked befuddled as he dashed away and out the door. He stopped Gabe from coming in. “Gabe—“

“What.” Gabe spoke rather emotionlessly. He didn’t even bother to look up.

“I’ve been doing a lot of thinking.”

“Okay.”

“I’m real sorry about what I said, and how I’ve treated you. I didn’t realize how selfish I was.”

Gabe sucked his teeth. “Okay.”

“When you compared me to Dean, it occurred to me what I’ve been thinking wrongly in my head. I…well I don’t want to leave you behind.”

“What d’you mean?” Finally Gabe showed some emotion and looked up at Sam. His eyes wiggled.

“I mean that whatever happens with the diner, I want to stay. I don’t want to go back to school if that means turning my back on everyone. Sure, I have friends and good classes there, but I’ve discovered something better than that. Schools will come and go. Family matters. Family really matters. And I know Dean has his heart set on this place, and once it gets torn down he’ll find a new dream. That’s just fine. Dean’s an asshole but he’s still my brother, and the partners we choose makes up the only family we have left. And Gabe, you…I…well I love you.”

Gabe’s eyes grew wide. They turned a little red and a tear welled up in one. Slowly, his hands came out of his pockets and lightly touched Sam’s chest. “Sammich…” Sam closed his eyes and kissed Gabe very softly. Their lips pressed together then separated with a tiny, delicate smack. “I love you, too, Sammich… _Sam_.”

“I’m going to transfer down here,” Sam said in a quiet voice. He took the back of his fingers and brushed Gabe’s hair away from his face. “So you won’t ever be lonely again.”

“Sam…”

Gabe smiled and gave him a hug of relief. They embraced momentarily, but the happiness was spoiled by a sudden piercing sound of glass shattering. Sam looked back at the diner and gasped. “What was that?!”

“Shouldn’t have left your post!” Gabe teased.

They immediately ran back in and saw customers staring at Dean, who was standing in front of the counter with a letter in his hands. There were shards of glass on the floor in a pattern obviously from being thrown. Cas stood behind the counter with a look of horror on his face.

“What happened?!” Sam asked as he ran in quickly.

“I _knew_ it! I _knew_ it was stupid!” Dean shouted to himself. His face was bright with anger and sadness. The paper in his hand crumpled up and he tossed the rest of the mail to the floor. One of the customers sitting at a booth had their phone out and looked like they might call the cops.

“What happened?!” Sam asked again, realizing he was just being ignored. Charlie came out of nowhere and pulled him aside.

“It’s a letter from that company, MEG, I think?” she spoke quickly. She appeared to be on the brink of tears, as well. “They said you only have two weeks left to come up with the money, or you’ll be bought up.”

Sam frowned. He had a feeling. Gabe took his arm but Sam just shook his head. “Dean,” he said softly. “Dean, stop.”

“This was stupid from the beginning! I never should have started it!” Dean ripped the letter in half and tossed it to the ground, then knocked a couple more bundles of silverware off of the counter.

“Hey!” Gabe yelled. “I gotta clean that up, man!”

“It doesn’t even fucking matter,” Dean grumbled. He turned his back, went to the kitchen and shouted back, “Tell everyone in here the food’s on us. We’re closed anyway.”

In a panic, Cas looked around the diner then followed Dean back. “Why do you insist on being so dramatic?” he asked sharply.

“Because I don’t give a fuck? Because this whole fucking ordeal has been a waste of fucking time? I knew it, I knew it all along that we wouldn’t make enough. Why did I keep pressing on? Fuckin’ hell. How stupid was I?”

“Dean, no; you’re not stupid.” Cas tried to calm him down. He petted his arm softly, but Dean didn’t react much at all. He just glared and glared at the wall, clenching his jaw and breathing heavily. “You tried because you believed in us. You believed in our family.”

“What family? You and me? That’s just two people. Sam? He doesn’t give a fuck. He doesn’t even wanna be here. I shoulda just let him stay in school. Now I fucked him up, too.”

“Love, stop.”

Dean ignored him and just continued to blather on. “We’ll move, okay? We’ll leave this piece of shit and go to, I dunno, Berkeley or something.”

“Berkeley?” Cas said with a nervous giggle. “Where did that come from?”

“I don’t know!” Dean yelled. Suddenly his anger dissipated and it all ran into sadness. Tears came from nowhere and flooded his cheeks. Cas felt terrible. “I wanted to keep my mom alive, okay? Is that so bad? I wanted to do the one thing she always wanted, ‘cause then it felt like we never really lost her. But I did. I need to just accept that.”

“Love…”

Dean sighed. Cas hugged him real tight and he kept crying against his shoulder. “Damn,” Dean groaned a few times.

“We will go wherever you want,” Cas said, patting Dean on the back. “I’ll follow you anywhere, and we’ll start over any which way you prefer. I’m not going to leave you and I will always, always have your back. I don’t wear this ring for fashion.”

“Mmhh,” Dean sighed. He pressed teary kisses against his husband’s neck. “Love you so much.”

The kitchen door flapped open and Gabe and Sam’s heads stuck through. “Don’t you want to read the rest of our mail?” Sam asked.

“Why? Just bills we can’t pay.”

“I guess,” said Gabe. He thrust his hand, holding a little white envelope, into the kitchen and shook it. “But there’s this letter, too.”

“Hmm?” Cas let go of Dean and went to the paper. He took it from Gabe’s hand and looked it over. “There’s no return address, but it’s to ‘The Winchesters’. What do you suppose it could be?”

“Some weird spam,” Dean groaned. He sulked to Cas’ side and looked over his shoulder. Cas tore it open slowly and unfolded a piece of paper with a handwritten message. Dean focused his eyes on it and read aloud.

“ ‘Boys,

‘I know it’s pretty cold to write a letter, but I just can’t come see you in person. I feel terrible that it’s been so long, but a buddy of mine managed to inform me about what’s going on with you all. Sorry I missed your wedding, Dean. I’m not thrilled about your wife being a guy, but I guess I can’t judge you on how to live your life. God knows I’m no saint. I hope you guys are happy together anyway. So I won’t be able to visit for a number of reasons, but here’s something that can hopefully make your lives a little better.’”

“Who is it from, Dean?” Sam asked.

Dean blinked several times. He reread the signature over and over, having a hard time believing what he saw. His voice locked up, but Cas looked at Sam and Gabe and said, “John Winchester.”

“Dad?!” Sam gasped. “Seriously?!”

“Y-yeah and that’s not all,” Dean said. He put his arms around Cas and took the letter from his hands, shaking from nerves. He had to read it over several times to let it sink in. Cas handed him the envelope. “Dean…”

Dean took it carefully and pulled something else out from inside. He nearly dropped it. Gabe and Sam watched with painful anticipation as Dean’s face flushed white and his eyes almost bugged out of his head.

“What is it?!” Gabe squealed, having a hard time containing himself.

“It’s a, it’s a _check_ ,” Dean stuttered. “A check for $90,000.”

Everyone froze and stared at each other. “Are you fucking serious?” Sam inhaled. “From Dad?”

“The check doesn’t have a name on it, but yeah, I would assume. Holy fuck.” Dean smiled real big and looked at Cas. He kissed him tightly on the cheek. “Fucking fuck, holy fuck!”

Cas blushed. “Then we can buy the diner out from MEG.”

“We sure fucking can!” Dean yelled. He dropped the envelope and gave Cas a really tight hug. He looked over at Sam and said, “Shit, Sammy. If you wanna stay you can stay, but if you really wanna go back to school, I can’t stop you, alright?”

Sam shook his head and took Gabe’s hand. “No,” he said, smiling. “I want to stay. We have one hell of an amazing family, and I don’t want to miss a minute together.”

  **~*~The End~*~**

** **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would love to hear your theories on how the ending came to be! And you might want to hear my theories, too. There is no right or wrong answer. Shoot me a message on my tumblr, waterandoranges. Thank you for reading! Don't forget the read the epilogue.


	20. Epilogue

 

 

Maybe you are having a hard time believing the story. Perhaps the notion that both brothers ended up with men, or that the mysterious John Winchester came out of nowhere to save the day is too farfetched for you. If that is the case, then you should by all means take a trip out to Lawrence, Kansas and visit them to confirm. Mary’s Diner is still there, just between an Exxon and a Safeway, rows of townhouses now flooding the vacant lot behind them. It looks a little different these days; the parking lot has been repaved and the entire inside has been renovated. It’s cleaner but still has an old-timey feel, even though they added a new wing of tables to one side.

What was once a single wall of photos is now _every_ wall. So many memories. If you take the time to look at each framed picture you’ll be able to get a sense of the story right off the bat. Of course all of the original pictures remain, including Mary, the few candid shots of John, baby pictures of the boys and all the way up to Dean and Cas’ wedding. But the newest additions are at least four times the amount of what was there before; the diner’s renovations, Cas smiling next to the oven during the annual commemorative pie sales, Sam finally getting his license and buying his first car, and the last picture of Bobby. Right. Bobby passed away.

It was sad but not tragic, and they miss him all of the time. Even after the diner was remodeled, the guys decided they would leave Bobby’s infamous stool there, flaking vinyl and all, save for one small change; a metal plate riveted to the side which reads “Bobby’s Seat.”

Time has changed Mary’s Diner, but not too much. Dean still stands behind the counter with his general grumpy disposition. His face is considerably more wrinkled now and his hair is getting grey, but he continues to sass any customer that gives him lip. Sam and Gabe haven’t stopped waiting tables, but Gabe dropped out of school and Sam picked up some classes here and there at the local university. He’s been working on being a paralegal for countless years. They are technically living at home, but good profits also gave way to the Winchester’s remodeling their basement. They made use of the door down there and turned it into a basement apartment, which was perfect for Sam and Gabe (and nobody worried about making noise again).

But Sam and Gabe aren’t the only waiters. They hired two more, named Ash and Jo. Jo is a friendly blonde girl who generally makes the best tips, and Ash is her brother who also makes tips but usually from a different crowd. It seems that Dean never stops telling him to treat the customers in a more normal manner, but Ash just bobs his head and says, “Right on, DeanoBeano.” Dean isn’t crazy about him, but people like Charlie, who still pops by when she’s in town, think he’s entertaining and a great member of the diner family.

Cas still comes in and cooks a few nights a week, but they’ve replaced him with two other chefs because he’s found a happier life staying at home. He’s been making money on the side by sewing various articles of clothing, purses and whatnot. He and Dean have had numerous vacations and they make a point of traveling to some place new and exciting every year for their anniversary. Dean is just as crazy in love with him, and no matter what happens, each morning starts with a “good morning, baby” and ends with a “night, love.” No matter what.

So if all of this isn’t enough to convince you of this story’s legitimacy, take a trip down there and ask around. Sam and Gabe will be happy to fill you in on every detail. Why not ask Cas and Dean? Well, they’d love to tell you too, but their version might not be as accurate. My dads tend to over exaggerate.

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! This story started out as a passing thought..."what if the Winchesters ran a diner? Cas cooked, Sam waited tables, Dean ran the place but kind of sucked at it"...  
> I appreciate all of your feedback and love :)


End file.
